21 de mayo 2023
The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo expropriated the facilities of the Maria Cavalleri Foundation. The operation lasted two days north of the city of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and ended this Saturday, May 20th, with a raid carried out by police and civilians.
The foundation, known for its educational and environmental work over two decades, had its legal status taken away on June 2, 2022, like 3,350 other non-profit organizations in the country since 2018.
“Today they confiscate a legal property that benefits all people and the environment. It is a violation of our territorial body, of our rights to be and exist in a coherent and harmonious way”, says the official statement of the organization.
According to the account of the occupation, two men and a woman wearing T-shirts from the Attorney General’s Office, showed up on May 19, 2023 and asked about the buildings. The following day, police and civilians appeared to take possession.
The institution has a twenty-year history of promoting care for nature, cultural exchanges, education, and creativity with a training center, a role that the regime confiscated with its decision in 2022 based on “false arguments.”
The Maria Cavalleri Foundation’s latest post, on its Facebook account, is a protest against the persecution. “We regret not serving you. The government closed us down like so many others,” they wrote on September 17, 2022.
This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times