The government of Nicaragua under President Daniel Ortega has continued a campaign since 2018 targeting religious institutions, most notably the Roman Catholic Church. Government forces and citizens sympathetic to the regime have routinely harassed Catholic clergy and worshippers. Catholic clergy have recently come under direct persecution; in June 2022, a judge sentenced a priest to over four years in prison on spurious charges and another priest was forced into house arrest in August 2022. Additionally, the government has taken harsher measures against Catholic-affiliated organizations such as shutting down charities and expelling their workers, stripping universities of funding and legal status, shutting down news media, and eliminating non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Source: Demonstrators hold national flags during a march in support of the Catholic Church in Managua, REUTERS / Cabrera

Recent News

All
Press Releases
Op-Eds
Speeches
Spotlight

USCIRF Calls for Congressional Hearing after State Department Fails to Designate Nigeria and India as Countries of Particular Concern

USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s Arbitrary Detention of Priests

USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s Expulsion of Arbitrarily Detained Priests

USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom Violations Against Indigenous Communities in Latin America

USCIRF Welcomes the Release of State Department’s 2022 International Religious Freedom Report

View All News

USCIRF Calls for Congressional Hearing after State Department Fails to Designate Nigeria and India as Countries of Particular Concern

USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s Arbitrary Detention of Priests

USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s Expulsion of Arbitrarily Detained Priests

USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom Violations Against Indigenous Communities in Latin America

USCIRF Welcomes the Release of State Department’s 2022 International Religious Freedom Report

View Press Releases

Religion News Service: Repression of women points to worsening religious freedom trends abroad

Washington Examiner: Washington Must Expand the List of Sanctioned Religious Freedom Violators

View Op-Eds
Sorry, no results found.
View Speeches

Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s Assault on Religious Freedom

View Spotlight

Publications

Annual Report
Reports, Briefs, and Factsheets

2023 Annual Report

2022 Annual Report

2021 Annual Report

Nicaragua Annual Report Chapters and Translations

View Annual Report Chapters & Translations

25th Anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act

October 16, 2023

Religious Freedom For Indigenous Communities in Latin America

June 07, 2023

Religious Freedom in Nicaragua in 2022

August 11, 2022

Nicaragua Country Update

March 11, 2020

View Reports, Briefs, and Factsheets

Congressional Testimony

Congressional Testimony
Government Correspondence

Testimony of Vice Chair Maenza on Global Persecution of Christians

July 09, 2019

View Congressional Testimony
Sorry, no results found.
View Government Correspondence