Nicaragua Imprisons, Fines Protestant Pastors on Unsubstantiated Money Laundering Charges

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – As part of President Daniel Ortega’s long-term crackdown on religious leaders, authorities in Nicaragua have now convicted 11 Protestant pastors on apparently trumped-up money laundering charges, sentencing them to jail sentences of 12-15 years in prison and an $80 million fine each. 

The 11 pastors are all associated with the US-based Mountain Gateway evangelistic ministry. The pastors and Mountain Gateway vehemently deny the charges. The pastors’ arrests followed their participation in organizing eight large-scale Gospel events attended by thousands of Nicaraguans last year.

In an interview with the Washington Times, Britt Hancock, head of Mountain Gateway Order, said Ortega’s government is trying to force the ministry out of Nicaragua. “As an official, registered ministry in Nicaragua, they canceled our registration and they seized all of our assets,” Hancock said. “They’ve frozen our bank accounts there. … Mountain Gateway in Nicaragua as an organization? Well, that’s over.”

“We can’t go to Latin America, we can’t go to Mexico, and that’s problematic for us because we have a big ministry footprint” in Mexico, Hancock said. Nevertheless, Hancock added: “[The] work of the Kingdom of God is not over, the spiritual side of things will continue, but as an organization, we can’t be there,”

Nicaragua ranks 30 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. “Hostility towards Christians in Nicaragua continues to intensify, with those who speak out against President Ortega and his government viewed as destabilizing agents,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains in a website statement.

“Christian leaders have been harassed and arrested, Christian properties seized, Christian schools, TV stations and charities closed, and churches monitored and intimidated.”

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