The New York Times report shows that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega (photo) has confiscated properties from opponents in Nicaragua, including two former foreign ministers.
Last Monday, the regime also confiscated a private school Business Administration, founded by Harvard almost 60 years ago.
The measure follows the confiscation of assets and properties of the Society of Jesus to the State of Nicaragua. Several in recent years Religious organizations were closed and its leaders imprisoned or banished.
At the beginning of the year, Nicaragua was deported to the USA 222 political prisoners, called a “traitor”. They are also the target of “asset transfers” to the state.
The American newspaper’s report spoke to Moisés Hassan, one of the first Sandinistas to break with Ortega’s party. Hassan fled to Costa Rica and is one of the political opponents who have lost their citizenship. The regime recently confiscated a sevenbedroom house worth $280,000.
“The cruel truth is that this was the only material possession I had apart from my pension, which was also taken away from me,” Hassan said.
Ortega orders violent repression against opponents. A report by UN experts said that since the antiregime demonstrations in 2018, “it has been and continues to be perpetrated serious violations and abuse of Human rights“. The document mentions “extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture, deprivation of citizenship and the right to remain in one’s own country.”