Ortega Regime banishes vice-rector of the UCA, Jorge Huete

The regime of Daniel Ortega denied entry to Nicaragua to the vice-rector of the Central American University (UCA), Jorge Huete, who tried to return home on Saturday, September 24, from a work trip he made to Cordoba, Argentina.

UCA sources confirmed to CONFIDENCIAL that the refusal to allow entry occurred in Panama when Huete was informed by Copa Airlines that he could not board the flight to Nicaragua.

Huete had traveled to Cordoba, Argentina, to participate in an activity on behalf of the Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences, of which he is the vice president. The airline limited itself to informing him that the Government of Nicaragua sent them a “migratory rejection”.

Jorge Huete is a renowned Nicaraguan scholar who directed the Center for Molecular Biology of the UCA for many years.

The former rector of the UCA was also banished

On June 1 the UCA announced that Father Rolando Enrique Alvarado López was the new rector of the university, taking over the position formerly held by Jesuit priest Jose Alberto Idiaquez Guevara, who had been in the post since 2014.

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Idiaquez was unable to return to Nicaragua in July because the Ortega regime refused to renew his passport while he was abroad for health reasons.

The former rector is Nicaraguan, but he is currently in Mexico, where he traveled in 2021 to have a medical check-up and, according to sources close to the UCA, when he tried to return, he was denied entry.

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Idiaquez was part of the Civic Alliance and participated in the first attempt at National Dialogue after the Ortega massacre against the April Rebellion, mediated by the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua. However, he resigned from the Alliance when it left the National Coalition in search of a candidate for the 2021 general elections.

The change of rectors occurred when the UCA faced various pressures from the Ortega regime, such as the cancellation of the budget item for universities that was assigned to it for the granting of scholarships. In addition, this year they also took away the seat held by the UCA representative on the National Council of Universities (CNU).

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times.