Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega expelled the Missionaries of Charity and closed two Catholic TV stations as he continued his campaign to end any form of real or perceived opposition to his regime. Source: Crux.
The announcement confirming the closure of all their activities came on Tuesday, as the government of Mr Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, announced they were closing another 101 non-government organisations “urgently”.
Since a civil uprising in April 2018, the government has cracked down on voices of opposition. To date, there are 150 opposition leaders in prison, including all those who had expressed a willingness to run for the presidency last year. The regime has also cancelled the legal status of 758 NGOs, including 42 foreign organisations.
The Missionaries of Charity arrived in Nicaragua in 1988, under the first Ortega administration (1979-1990) and following a visit to the Central American nation by the order’s founder, Mother Teresa of Kolkata.
The sisters run a home in Granada, where they take in abandoned or abused adolescents and help them reintegrate into life.
They also run a home for the elderly in Managua, the capital city; a school reinforcement project for at-risk students; and a day care centre for impoverished families.
In an attempt to justify the closure of the Missionaries of Charity activities, the government is accusing the group of “non-compliance” with the law against terrorism, arguing they have “failed to comply with their obligations.”
On the same day the Missionaries of Charity were expelled, the government ordered the closure of two Catholic TV channels.
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Ortega regime expels Missionaries of Charity from Nicaragua (By Ines San Martin, Crux)
