Two church-linked universities shuttered in state clampdown

Nicaragua on Tuesday 7 March shuttered two universities with ties to the Catholic Church just a day after stripping 18 employer unions of their legal status in an ongoing clampdown on dissent, reports AFP.

Since anti-government protests were violently put down in 2018, leaving more than 350 dead, hundreds imprisoned and more than 100,000 in exile, rights groups, the UN and Western governments have accused President Daniel Ortega’s government of illegally attempting to crush any and all opposition.

The steps against the universities, which have campuses in several cities, were published in the official La Gaceta gazette. Just like the unions, they had their legal status cancelled for alleged contraventions of the law, according to the government. The institutions were ordered to hand over all information on students, professors, study plans and other details to the country's National Council of Universities (CNU), according to the publication. The universities’ thousands of students will be integrated into other CNU-approved institutions and all university property will be transferred to the state.
Full report on the Barron’s site