The government of Nicaragua outlawed 1,500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on August 19th to crack down on the dissent against incumbent President Daniel Ortega.

Organizations outlawed by the Nicaraguan government include religious, sports, and health organizations, according to an issue published on Monday by the government gazette, La Gaceta. The Nicaraguan government accuses the groups of failing to report sufficient financial information.

Daniel Ortega, previously leading Nicaragua between 1979 and 1990 as the leader of the ruling party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which toppled the United States-supported Somoza family dictatorship, has served his second stint as the President since 2007. Originally a radical left-wing politician, Ortega gradually became more business-friendly in his second Presidential term while governing his country with an iron fist.

The measure of canceling the legal status of 1,500 organizations comes at a time when President Ortega bans opposition parties, jails dissents, and expels political rivals. Ortega’s actions in quashing dissents began in 2018 as anti-government protests swept the country; demonstrators protested against the social security reforms and demanded his resignation.

While Nicaragua was facing an economic crisis, Ortega’s social security reform included cuts to pensions and raising income and payroll taxes. These reforms left workers and pensioners with less money when Nicaragua entered its recession.

Protests erupted due to combined frustrations with the government, rampant corruption, and systematic assault on Nicaraguan civil society. Protesters demanded the cancellation of economic reforms and challenged the decades-long Ortega rule. Although President Ortega successfully managed to stop the protests, his actions have attracted international condemnations, including those of the United States.

In December 2018, the Nicaraguan government declared 200 non-governmental organizations as illegal. Groups working in education and culture were labeled collaborators with foreign interests. In 2022, Ortega’s government introduced new laws to require NGOs to declare financial information.

The crackdown on civil societies impacted all corners of Nicaraguan societies. Ortega shut down private universities and banned political retribution and medical groups such as the Society of Pediatrics, accusing them of attempting to overthrow his government.

President Ortega’s iron-fisted crackdown on civil societies and attack on human rights has also jeopardized his country’s economic relations with the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Nicaragua Human Rights and Anticorruption Act of 2018, allowing the United States to oppose any new loans for technical and financial assistance to Nicaragua.

Rated 16 out of 100 by the Freedom House, a non-governmental organization advocating issues of democracy, Daniel Ortega and his officials are banned by the U.S. government from entering the United States after his re-election in 2021.