The Red Cross, an organization responsible for helping provide disaster relief and emergency assistance to many across the globe in times of conflict, has been officially dissolved under a vote within the National Assembly of Nicaragua. This dissolving comes in line with the closure of many groups seen as hostile under the government of Daniel Ortega. This comes after multiple accusations from government critics, officials, and organizations, and even the Catholic Church. With its closure, a brand new “Nicaragua Red Cross” will open under the government’s Ministry of Health. Funding is questionable, but Nicaragua, and the Ortega Sandinista Party claims it will be completely separate from the operations of the national government.
The governments reasoning for dissolving all association with the Red Cross stems from accusations of perpetrating “attacks on peace and stability”. This was especially noted within the anti-government protests in 2018 amid the changes to the social security system within the country. During the protests, 355 were reported killed in the clashes, and thousands were injured. This helped lead the migration of more than 100,000 people within the country, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. While the Red Cross claimed they only set out to help aiding the injured, Nicaragua claimes that they were directly involved in interfering with the protests, violating their commitment to neutrality. These claims are suspected to have been invalid, as this is again only one of the over 3,000 closures within nongovernmental organizations. There has also been the arrest of 40 political opponents under claims of treason.
The Red Cross is classified as a purely humanitarian organization, and therefore is not classified as either an NGO or an IGO. Its purposes are purely to help and aid those in need in desperate situations, and therefore they are considered “off limits” in areas of conflict. It follows the International Humanitarian Laws, and restrict the means and methods of warfare while protecting civilians. These are protected under the Geneva Convention, but it also provides means for expulsion should the Red Cross not follow the set laws. They are protected as long as they provide an unbiased, and all fair set of aid to those in need, they are not allowed to partake or influence any sway in conflict or politics. While I think that the means for banning the Red Cross from Nicaragua are ridiculous, and born in fear of protest, I think it will be interesting to see how other countries will react to the banning of such a neutral and helpful organization. Perhaps, should any conflict continue, they might be swayed to change their policy, under false accusations, or anything of the sort.