The Nicaraguan government, led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president,” Rosario Murillo, has begun the new year with a controversial move, canceling the legal status of 15 nonprofit organizations. This action adds to the over 5,400 NGOs shut down since 2018, highlighting the regime's ongoing crackdown on civil society.

The closures, announced on January 8 via the official government newspaper "La Gaceta", included 11 organizations that were said to have been “voluntarily dissolved.” Among these were Save the Children and the Dominican Nuns Foundation of Nicaragua. Save the Children, which has operated in the country since 1986, focused on education, health, child protection, and humanitarian aid, employing 46 staff members in Managua and Matagalpa. Other affected organizations include the Ebenezer Christian Missionary Foundation and the Fundamental Baptist Church Association of Matagalpa.

Four additional organizations, including the Nicaraguan House of Spirituality, Culture, History, Anthropology, Archaeology, and Art Foundation, were shut down for alleged noncompliance with government regulations.

The closures come as part of a larger trend of repression. In 2024 alone, the Ortega-Murillo regime dissolved approximately 1,700 nonprofits, including 678 Christian organizations, many of which were Catholic and evangelical entities. The most significant single-day crackdown occurred on August 19, when 1,500 organizations were shuttered.

The evangelical organization International Christian Concern (ICC) highlighted the systemic persecution of religious and aid groups in its 2025 global report, revealing that 315 religious organizations were forcibly closed in 2023. The ICC criticized the Nicaraguan Ministry of the Interior for spearheading these actions against churches and charities.

International observers and human rights advocates continue to express concern over the Ortega-Murillo government’s tightening grip on civil society, emphasizing the impact on vulnerable communities who rely on these organizations for critical support.