Nicaragua's Ortega regime declares Jesuit Order illegal, seizes all property

The Nicaraguan regime of Daniel Ortega on Wednesday declared the Jesuit religious order to be illegal and ordered the confiscation of all of its property, in its latest crackdown against Catholic-led institutions. 

The confiscation order said that the Roman Catholic order, also known as the Society of Jesus, failed to comply with tax reporting. 

The move comes less than a week after the regime seized Jesuit-run Central American University (UCA) in Managua, one of the country’s top universities. The order received by the university stated that the government of Nicaragua would guarantee all educational programs going forward. 

The regime accused the university of being a “center for terrorism organized by criminal groups” after many UCA graduates took part in the violent 2018 protests against the Ortega regime, which left more than 300 civilians dead and over 2,000 injured.

“This is a government policy that systematically violates human rights and appears to be aimed at consolidating a totalitarian state,” the Society of Jesus of Central America said in a statement following the seizure of the university last week. 

Ortega has systematically cracked down on Catholic-led institutions since the protests of 2018, expelling several nuns and missionaries from the country and closing down countless Catholic radio and television stations.

In March, the Nicaraguan government cut off its ties with the Vatican after Pope Francis described the Nicaraguan government as a “crude dictatorship” led by an “unbalanced” president.

In late May, the regime froze the bank accounts of the Catholic parishes in the country, accusing them of money laundering, and closed down the Nicaraguan Red Cross, claiming it was attacking the country’s peace and stability.