Ortega Regime Seizes Catholic University in Nicaragua

livemint.com:

the future of Nicaragua, represents a major erosion of democratic norms and the closing of civic space," said Brian Nichols, the State Department’s senior Latin America official, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua’s vice president and Ortega’s wife, who acts as the spokeswoman for the regime, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Pope Francis is a Jesuit, an order known for centuries for its dedication to education.

The Jesuits said UCA had been the object of persecution by the Ortega regime since 2018, when the university tried to protect thousands of students who took to the streets to protest Ortega government policies. The protesters were met with harsh repression by police and paramilitary security forces, who fired upon the students. Universities in the capital, Managua, were the center for the demonstrations that shook the Ortega regime.

More than 300 people were killed, most of them by security forces, before the protests ended. Ortega has been in power since 2007. He last won re-election in 2021 after arresting and imprisoning all of his opponents in a vote deemed to be a farce by the U.S.

and the international community. The U.S. has sanctioned Ortega’s wife, other family members, and government officials.

Ortega has closed independent media, political groups and civil society organizations. Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans have gone into exile, many to neighboring Costa Rica and the U.S. “This is a government policy that is systematically violating human rights and appears to be aimed at consolidating a totalitarian state," the Jesuits said of the takeover of the university.