Nicaragua orders Red Cross to close, in Ortega government’s latest crackdown on civic groups

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua has ordered the closure of the country’s Red Cross, capping a crackdown that has seen the government toss out out religious orders, charities and civic groups. The legislature voted to shutter the Nicaraguan Red Cross, accusing it of “attacks on peace and stability” for helping treat injured protesters during antigovernment demonstrations in 2018. The legislature is dominated by President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista party. The legislature ordered the country’s Health Department to create “a new Nicaragua Red Cross.” How the country’s over-stretched health system would get the money to do that is unclear. The current Red Cross was largely funded by donations.