Public Employees in Nicaragua Feel Like Hostages: “They Treat Us Like Traitors”

With five weeks to go before a close relative’s wedding, Jorge went to his boss’s office to ask for time off, even though he already knew the answer. His hands were sweating. “Don’t do it, because you could get into a lot of trouble,” they advised him. He had already received that warning on another occasion, when he had also requested time off to visit his family in the United States.

Jorge is a doctor and has worked for the Ministry of Health (Minsa) for over ten years. He considers himself a “hostage” of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The Nicaraguan government has intensified repressive measures against public employees in recent years: mass layoffs, cutbacks in severance pay, surveillance, mandatory forms declaring assets, forced participation in FSLN party events, and denials of travel outside Nicaragua.

“They haven’t let me leave; they make it clear to me that they think I’m going to stay outside the country,” he says.

Jorge’s niece was born three years ago, but he only knows her through video calls. “My sister doesn’t want to come to the country either, because she’s afraid,” Jorge explains.

The regime’s paranoia grows and grows

Although Jorge has thought about resigning several times, he holds back for fear of reprisals against his family. “I have people close to me working for the government, and I think that if I leave, they would pay the price,” he notes.

He recalls receiving several warnings because he was slow to complete the financial disclosure form that was required of him. “It’s pretty invasive, because I also have to provide information about my wife and children,” he states.

“It’s a way of controlling us by letting us know that if we do something they don’t like, they can strip us of everything,” the doctor affirms.

The regime’s paranoia toward public servants strikes him as “frightening” because they have fired and punished many, including some who “seemed the most loyal.” “They now treat us as if everyone working within the state apparatus are traitors,” he declares.

Jorge’s experience is not an isolated one. Many of his colleagues have tried to apply for permits to travel abroad—whether to visit friends, family, attend medical conferences, or as tourists—and in most cases the response is the same: “Not allowed.”

“I have a colleague who had to send a letter explaining where he was going, how long he’d be gone, the reasons, and answering many personal questions, but the response never came,” he recalls.

This doctor notes that it is “sad” to prevent people from traveling. “You feel like a prisoner at the mercy of someone you don’t even know—who decides whether or not you can leave,” he laments.

Blocked from traveling but never told why

Ministry of Education personnel in Nicaragua share the doctor’s feeling of being held “hostage.” Maribel is a teacher at a school in the south part of the country; and the last time she was able to leave the country was in 2022. “Right after they reluctantly allowed me to leave, they began repeatedly telling me no way I could leave again,” she explains.

On that occasion, she traveled to Costa Rica to visit friends and family who had been living in the neighboring country for years. “Since the majority of the Nicaraguan exiles went to Costa Rica, they consider it suspect that someone would want to travel there, even though I used to go every year,” she maintains.

The criteria for authorizing or denying travel are unknown to public employees. Most, like Maribel, believe it’s arbitrary. “I can’t find a logical explanation; I suppose insisting just makes you look bad, and makes them see you as a suspicious person,” she comments.

“I know a colleague from the same school where I work who packed her bags and tried to leave, but when she arrived at the airport, they told her she couldn’t board, and they took her passport away,” she states.

At first, the travel bans were for “high-ranking officials,” Maribel recalls. “But now it’s a law that applies equally to everyone.”

“There are very few privileged people now, because the ‘godfathers’ in high-level positions no longer risk interceding on anyone’s behalf, much less for a trip outside the country,” Maribel adds.

Fired for “talking”

Joaquin is a specialist at a Managua hospital. He says he has seen many colleagues laid off, including some who were “the only specialists” in certain areas of healthcare in the country. “There’s no policy aimed at retaining those staff with the most extensive experience and expertise,” he says.

This man, who has worked in the public health system for over two decades, says the worst period was during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I believe Nicaragua is the only country in the world that – in addition to failing to implement prevention protocols – had the audacity to fire medical staff simply because many dared to speak out about the lack of protective equipment,” he declares.

“Many people were fired simply for speaking out, for giving their medical opinion, because the government never admitted the number of deaths, even though burial processions to the cemeteries were a daily occurrence,” Joaquin says.

However, the unjustified dismissals began as early as 2018. The doctor recalls that many were fired for treating the wounded during government-led armed attacks against protesters. “From that point on, we began to put up with surveillance from within the hospitals themselves,” he notes.

Ever since he began working in the healthcare system, Joaquín has observed the Ortega-Murillo regime’s political “manipulation” of workers. “They force us to participate in political events or bizarre spectacles, like when they dragged us into the streets for a demonstration that practically welcomed the COVID-19 pandemic,” he says.

The excuse of “orders from above”

Joaquin says that in all the public hospitals across the country—and, in general, in all state institutions—there are “political appointees.” “We have our supervisors, but there’s also an entire surveillance system in place to monitor what we say, whether we complain, and even our social media activity,” he laments.

He asserts that most “abuses” come as “orders from above.” The workers, believe these are directives partially from Daniel Ortega, but principally from Rosario Murillo, who “is the one who controls the workers.”

“In no public institution can decisions be made without the approval of the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front Party. There’s a huge barrier between public officials and those who make decisions,” explains the doctor.

Joaquín believes that sometimes the answer of, “orders from above” is an excuse used by the political representatives, “who don’t want to work harder than necessary, and don’t convey our requests to anyone.”

Doctors and teachers deeply affected by the internal repression

Elvira Cuadra, a sociologist and director of the Center for Transdisciplinary Studies of Central America, explains that from 2018 to the present, state officials “have been subject to orders that restrict their right to mobility, for no reason.”

“There is ample evidence of public officials having their passports confiscated and being barred from leaving the country. We have learned of many who they put on hold, waiting for travel permission that never comes.”

Since 2021, Cuadra sees the situation as critical. This is particularly true for workers in the health and education sectors, because “members of these two sectors often need to participate in professional activities (abroad) but are prevented from leaving Nicaragua.”

Public health specialist Ana Quiros argues that the Ortega-Murillo regime has turned the country into “a giant prison,” particularly for teachers and medical staff, the two sectors that employ the largest number of state workers.

“We have been informed that an active surveillance system is in place, and in every workplace there are one or two people tasked with reporting daily on what public employees say or fail to say,” she notes.

Quirós, who was banished from Nicaragua in 2018 for participating in the demonstrations that marked the April Rebellion, feels that workers are being held captive by the Ortega-Murillo regime, because “they cannot participate in anything that is not organized by [the government].”

The situation for public employees has been “deteriorating,” but “many who have left did so knowing that the price was not being able to return,” says Ernesto Medina, an education specialist and former rector of the American University (UAM) and UNAN-Leon.

“One of the things that makes a career in teaching or in the academic sector of health care appealing is precisely the opportunity to travel, participate in conferences, engage with colleagues to learn about new developments, and discuss topics of scientific interest. Obviously, by closing off that possibility, they’re doing great damage to these people’s professional level,” Medina indicates.

An answer that never came

Rigoberta, an educator for several decades, says she went through a nightmare trying to get her passport. “They made me go to the immigration offices several times, but they never gave me an answer,” she says. Finally, after three visits, they issued it to her.

She applied for it because her daughter’s husband had invited her to spend some time with them in Europe. Excited, she decided to request permission for the trip, but a superior warned her that “it would put me on a blacklist.”

“A couple of years ago I was able to go on a trip, although I had to provide all the details of where I was going and who I would be meeting with (…) and I suppose going again would be frowned upon,” she indicates.

Despite her fears, Rigoberta made an attempt to request permission. Nine months have now passed. The proposed trip would have been over several months ago, but permission—or even a denial—never reached her. Nor did they give her a passport. “It’s as if you sent a letter and it never reached the person who was supposed to see it,” she says.

“The worst part of not getting a response is that you feel like it means you can never ask for permission again, because the request wasn’t well received (…) at least that’s what I think after being left waiting,” Rigoberta says.

“Wanting to leave Nicaragua could cost you your job”

A CONFIDENCIAL report published in 2023 revealed that permits to travel abroad were “selective,” while most people were barred from doing so. Today the situation has worsened, says Maritza, a doctor who’s been employed at a Nicaraguan hospital for over 15 years.

Aunque hace un tiempo pudo especializarse y tener formación en el extranjero dice que eso “es cosa del pasado”.

“I was looking forward to attending a medical conference abroad, but when I asked for permission, they immediately told me it would be difficult—though they said they would try to arrange for me to go,” he explains.

Her boss forced her to provide all the details about the trip, the length of her stay, and the destination. “They even asked me to provide information about who told me about that event and why I was interested in participating,” says Maritza.

“In a way, it was so much information that it frightened me, because I thought that wanting to leave Nicaragua could cost me my job—or worse, that they wouldn’t let me return,” she admits.

Since April 20, 2024, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) announced that it would require pharmaceutical distributors, laboratories, and medical equipment companies that organize training and conferences with public or private health personnel to request authorization 30 days in advance.

Among the activities to be controlled, Minsa includes “trainings, product launches, conferences and scientific-technical activities, national and international congresses, and any other product promotion.”

Maritza describes the fact that doctors are no longer receiving updated training abroad as “terrible”. “Not even the Ministry of Health itself is sending doctors anywhere for further training,” she confesses.

A few days later, she wrote a new letter withdrawing her request for permission, citing family reasons. “I didn’t want to continue, because I was terrified,” she insists.

Five years of losing teachers and health care workers with no growth

Nicaragua has lost 4,504 teachers between 2018 and January 2026, according to central government employment figures published by the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN).

According to these statistics, the public education system began 2026 with 48,288 teachers, which is 188 fewer than in December 2025, when the country ended the year with 48,476 teachers nationwide.

And when it comes to healthcare personnel, including nurses and midwives, Nicaragua is one of the three countries in the Americas with the fewest staff members, according to the World Health Organization.

Over the past ten years, from 2016 to January 2026, the average number of healthcare workers has increased by only 2,025 people, according to official figures from the BCN.

While the annual average number of healthcare workers hired in the public sector was 19,051 in 2016, the average as of January 2026 had risen only slightly to 21,076.

An analysis of official statistics reveals that, although the number of personnel has increased, it has fluctuated, with declines in years such as 2020, 2023, 2024, and 2025, when the annual average of health workers decreased compared to the previous year.

This drop in hiring in both sectors, according to Elvira Cuadra, is due to “surveillance, control, threats, and blackmail, particularly affecting teachers and health personnel, as many have decided to resign and seek other ways to survive.”

Vacant positions are not being replaced

“Another factor is that vacant positions are not being filled, and they are only bringing in people who are necessary for some reason; but most of those who are hired are chosen for their level of loyalty or subordination rather than their experience,” the sociologist explains.

Meanwhile, Ana Quiros points out that the regime itself has dismantled all the organizations that brought together doctors who ensured opportunities to specialize abroad. In the case of teachers, she denounces that “they are forced to teach and repeat the lies imposed in educational programs.”

“Every year, many people in the health and education sectors are trained in the country, but this is not reflected in hiring data. However, both patients and students are increasing, which means they must attend to more and more people,” she notes.

“What the regime prefers is to hire younger personnel, more subject to pressure, instead of professionals with years of experience and greater judgment about their role in the country’s development,” Quiros adds.

In that same vein, academic Ernesto Medina laments that workers with “extensive experience” are being lost while replacements are sought “based purely on political loyalty.”

“If there is any suspicion that a person does not sympathize with the regime or is not considered reliable according to their absurd criteria (…) they have no opportunity to work either in the education system or in the health system,” he says.

Medina insists that “the vast majority of the people who have been brought into” positions in Education and Health “are individuals who do not have the best training, were not the best students, and whose only merit is having shown unconditional loyalty to the regime.”