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[14 October 2008] - The Sandinista government has launched a sweeping crackdown on non-governmental organisations, including Oxfam, prompting concerns about freedom of speech and democratic rights. Police raided the offices of two pressure groups, carting away computers and files, and a further 15 organisations are under investigation for alleged money-laundering and subversion. Critics condemned the move as a further sign of intolerance and authoritarianism by President Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista leader who was feted as a hero in the country's 1980s revolution. Several European governments are preparing to axe tens of millions of dollars in aid in protest, a sign of how much international support Ortega has lost since his return to power last year. "It's a response to the deteriorating democratic environment," said one diplomat in the capital, Managua. Last month the government launched Operation No More Lies against NGOs it accused of embezzlement, money-laundering and subversion. Their promotion of human rights, gender equality and poverty reduction were "modern-day trojan horses" and a rightwing plot to destabilise the administration, it said. The interior ministry followed up with an inquiry into 17 groups, including Oxfam GB, the British branch of the aid agency. It is one of the biggest NGOs in Nicaragua and runs several programmes as well as distributing donor funds to local NGOs. A judicial order to confiscate documents and equipment, which the Guardian has seen, names Oxfam as one of the groups to be raided. The agency pre-empted the raid by handing over material before police broke in. "We are surprised and concerned by the allegations that have appeared in the media about Oxfam's operations in Nicaragua," said Barbara Stocking, the group's chief executive. "For over 30 years we have respected Nicaraguan law, and carried out our work to overcome poverty and suffering in a transparent, accountable and non-partisan way." Oxfam would cooperate with any investigation, she added. Privately, officials from several other aid agencies questioned whether they could work in the western hemisphere's second-poorest country after Haiti. The government has defended its actions as a lawful attempt to control murky funding for opposition-linked local NGOs. Officials did not return calls. Ortega paved his return to power by endorsing a ban on abortion, which appeased the Catholic church, and neutralising conservative foes with a pact. Some of his most vocal critics have been former supporters who accused him of betraying Sandinista principles, a chorus which swelled as the president clashed with writers, poets and artists who had championed the movement during its war against US-backed Contra rebels. Violent attacks by pro-government supporters on recent opposition rallies have further dented the president's image. The focus of the crackdown is the Centre of Media Investigations (Cinco) and its head, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, a high-profile journalist and son of a former president, Violeta Chamorro. His investigations into alleged corruption in Sandinista land deals infuriated the government. The other group raided was the Autonomous Movement for Women (Mam), which has criticised the treatment of women. "The administrative and judicial harassment of Cinco and Mam is an outrage," said the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. Courts were being used to settle scores and attack civil society, it said. Further information
pdf: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/14/humanrights-voluntarysector