In Nicaragua, the Ortega regime steps up efforts to silence civil society—especially the Catholic Church (America)

Daniel Ortega, a leader of the Marxist Sandinistas who overthrew the authoritarian regime of Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle, ruled Nicaragua from the 1979 Sandinista takeover until his loss in the 1990 presidential election. He returned to power in 2007.

According to the report, there have been “190 attacks and desecrations against church sites since 2018, including a fire in the cathedral of Managua, as well as police harassment and persecution of bishops and priests by the Nicaraguan government.”