Additional Context: This information was collected by Human Rights Watch, or HRW, in an interview with a representative of the organization who chose to remain anonymous. This group had been able to continue documenting cases of political imprisonment from exile, with support from USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, after losing their legal status in early 2022. Operating in exile, they relied on staff on the ground for visibility into human rights violations and to provide legal support to prisoners, much of which has been lost without U.S. support.

Devex Researcher Note: The NED is a congressionally-funded nonprofit foundation that funded around 2,000 projects promoting democracy and human rights worldwide. It suspended most of its projects following early aid cuts in 2025. Although the organization regained access to some funding through a legal injunction, a bill to permanently defund it has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Nicaragua, the cancellation of NGOs' legal statuses was largely achieved through a 2020 law requiring any individual or organization receiving foreign funding to register as a 'foreign agent' with the government — barring them from public positions — or face fines, judicial freezing of assets, or loss of legal status. This led to the cancellation of thousands of organizations' legal status by early 2022.

Source: Human Rights Watch