Nicaraguan university students live with uncertainty after the closure of their universities

Students live in a situation of uncertainty due to the surprise closure of at least 14 private universities in Nicaragua, 12 in the last two days, despite the fact that the National Council of Universities (CNU), the governing body of Nicaraguan higher education, assured that it will guarantee academic continuity.

For the second consecutive day, the CNU reaffirmed “its commitment to educational stability and continuity with quality”, so that the thousands of students studying at the affected universities can continue their studies normally, although it has not found an echo among university students .

Student movements such as the University Coordinator for Democracy and Justice (CUDJ) or the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN), demanded the reestablishment of the legal personality of the canceled study centers, the continuity of education, and expressed solidarity with the students. and his parents for what happened.

The CNU promised “reduction of fees” to students in the campuses, which are now part of the state, in accordance with the provisions of the National Assembly (Parliament), dominated by Sandinista deputies and their allies.

The issue of fees is not a priority among students, but the quality of education, according to the CUDJ.

“We express our concern about the instrumentalization of laws by the Powers of the State, to close universities for political reasons (…), political control in universities aggravates the challenges of quality education in Nicaragua and can cause serious (academic) consequences,” said the CUDJ.

The constitutionalist expert and member of the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, María Asunción Moreno, said that the “Constitution is clear in pointing out and recognizing, not only university autonomy, but also that the assets and income of the universities cannot be subject to intervention or expropriation”.

Students from the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua (Upoli), which in 2018 was taken over by students to demand university autonomy and the resignation of President Daniel Ortega, met to demonstrate in front of the campus in Managua, although without success.

The headquarters of Upoli, as well as the Catholic University of the Dry Tropics (Ucatse), the Popular University of Nicaragua (Uponic), the Nicaraguan University of Humanistic Studies (Uneh), and the Paulo Freire University (UPF), were surrounded by police and people civilians outside the student movements, as Efe was able to verify.

Some young people who identified themselves as university students shared videos in which the presence of police and what they identified as “paramilitaries” could be seen in front of university gates.

Union organizations of the affected universities, of Sandinista affiliation, showed their “full support for the provisions determined by the National Assembly and the CNU.”

They demand respect from universities

Meanwhile, in a statement, Uneh students and teachers affirmed that they will be “facilitating the entire process of transferring qualifications and academic records to whomever the CNU authorities indicate.”

Meanwhile, the “active students” of Upoli demanded from Parliament and the CNU the return of legal personality, job stability for workers, as well as “keeping intact” grades and academic records, and “not being exposed to any student for demanding their rights to have a decent and quality education”.

Until now the number of affected students is unknown, although only Upoli exceeded 8,500 students, while Uhispam added 3,980.

The canceled universities are part of some 87 organizations that the Nicaraguan Parliament has stripped of their legal personalities since 2018, when university students led a wave of protests against Ortega that were reduced with armed attacks that left at least 355 dead, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). (I)