First international non-governmental organization (NGO) withdraws from Nicaragua in reaction to new law on “Foreign agents” which raised an uproar. The Swedish organization We Effect, which supports poverty alleviation projects in twenty countries, has announced that it has ended its activities in Nicaragua after thirty-five years of presence.
“This decision follows the adoption of new legislation which obliges all persons and organizations which receive funds from international bodies to register as foreign agents”, said the NGO on its website, Sunday, December 13.
A controversial law
The Nicaraguan Parliament, where President Daniel Ortega’s party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), has a majority, adopted on October 15 this text requiring people and organizations receiving funding from outside the country to register before January 14 like “Foreign agents” to the Ministry of the Interior, then to report regularly on their activities. For its promoters, the law aims to defend the sovereignty of the country and to fight against foreign interference.
We Effect general secretary Anna Tibblin, quoted in a statement, said she “Constitutes a new example of the fact that democratic space is shrinking in the world”.
The activities of this NGO are mainly funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (ASDI), according to its website.
