Nicaragua's Ortega regime freezes bank accounts of top private university as part of Catholic crackdown

The communist Ortega regime in Nicaragua froze bank accounts of the Central American country’s top private university on Wednesday, in its latest crackdown against Catholic-led institutions. 

Nicaraguan authorities ordered the suspension of the bank accounts of the Central American University (UCA), a Jesuit-run school, and some of its top executives.

On Wednesday, UCA officials sent an email to students and staff saying that they were not able to receive any payments corresponding to fees or services due to reasons beyond their control. 

"I can tell you that the accounts are frozen. We are trying to find out what is going on but we don't want to cause alarm," a university official who requested anonymity told the media outlet Divergences. 

Founded in 1961, UCA has become one of the country’s top universities. Many of its graduates include members from Nicaragua’s political and business class, including three of Ortega’s sons. Ortega himself studied law at UCA but quit when he joined the Sandinista rebel movement. 

Many UCA graduates took part in the violent 2018 protests against the Ortega regime, which left more than 300 civilians dead and left over 2,000 injured, according to human rights groups. Since then, it has been a target of the Ortega Regime.

In the last five years, the National Council of Universities (CNU), the governing body of higher education in Nicaragua, and the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) have targeted the school and given it hardships, including exhaustive and extraordinary reviews of the accreditations of majors and master's degrees and denying their annual permit to operate.

The Ortega regime has also targeted the Catholic church and several of its operations in the country after the church offered shelter to many fleeing the crackdown that took place during the 2018 protests. 

Ortega has systematically expelled several nuns and missionaries from the country and has closed down countless Catholic radio and television stations. In late May, the regime froze the bank accounts of the Catholic parishes in the country, accusing them of money laundering.