Concern over the closure of the UCA in Nicaragua

The Latin American Council of Social Sciences views with concern the closure of the Centroamerican University (UCA), based in Managua, Nicaragua.

In a statement addressed to the university community, UCA authorities indicated that on Tuesday, August 15, they received a court order notifying them of the seizure of real estate, furniture, and money in both national and foreign currency, as well as frozen bank accounts and financial products in both national and foreign currency. The following day, the university announced the suspension of all academic and administrative activities. At the UCA facilities, the National Council of Universities of Nicaragua established the Casimiro Sotelo Montenegro National University.

In defense of the Central American University, the CLACSO Steering Committee had stated, in February 2020: “Convinced that education plays a key role in the development and well-being of our societies, we find it incomprehensible that a university is being attacked… CLACSO remains steadfast in its commitment to truth, justice, democracy, and solidarity, and will continue working to ensure that the social sciences and humanities contribute to the liberation of our Latin American and Caribbean peoples from all that threatens their dignity and independence.”

At CLACSO we advocate for a prompt normalization of academic activities at the Central American University, for the benefit of its faculty and students and for university autonomy.

CLACSO Steering Committee
August 18th, 2023