Nicaragua to close Red Cross offices in latest crackdown

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Nicaragua has dissolved the country's Red Cross organization, accusing it of not being neutral in anti-government protests five years ago and replacing it with an agency administered by the state.

Lawmakers affiliated with the president's Sandinista party in the National Assembly voted Wednesday to dissolve the Nicaraguan Red Cross Association and called for a new agency that would be administered by the Ministry of Health.

Under the new law, the government will seize Red Cross assets in the Central American country, including all its "patrimony, assets and stocks," which will be administered by the Nicaraguan Red Cross, a "decentralized entity attached to the Ministry of Health."

Lawmakers accused the Red Cross of acting against its principles during the 2018 demonstrations, which left hundreds dead. The humanitarian group claims it only helped treat injured protesters during the demonstrations.

It also attempted to be a humanitarian mediator in the country's socio-political crisis.

Legislators pointed out that the Red Cross did not present financial statements and failed to verify the identity of its donors.

The decision on the humanitarian organization, created in 1931 when the city of Managua was shaken by an earthquake and then razed by a fire, comes amid a far-reaching crackdown on opposition leaders, journalists, and the Catholic church by the government of President Daniel Ortega.

Since 2018, over 3,000 non-profit organizations have been closed down by the government.