10 de febrero 2025
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The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, through its Foreign Minister, Valdrack Jaentschke, announced its withdrawal from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), accusing it of having an “interventionist tendency” due to the data on Nicaragua included in its report titled The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024.
The Ortega regime described the FAO's stance as “unacceptable, inadmissible, and disrespectful.” “We are announcing Nicaragua’s withdrawal from this organization and demanding the immediate closure of its representation and offices in Nicaragua,” stated the letter sent to FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.
The regime accused the FAO of acting with an “interventionist, aggressive tendency that has been maliciously disseminated for political purposes,” alleging that the organization’s report provided “false information” that has been used in “negative publications aimed at discrediting” its anti-poverty policies.
“The cited document contains information and data on Nicaragua that were neither authorized nor consulted with our institutions, nor validated by the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua,” reads the letter dated February 3, 2025, signed by Jaentschke.
In July 2024, the FAO published the report detailing the state of food security and nutrition worldwide. The international organization specified that Nicaragua (19.6%) ranks among the countries with the highest levels of hunger in Central America, alongside Honduras (20.4%) and Guatemala (12.6%), representing approximately 1.3 million people—19.6% of the country’s total population.
Regime Accuses FAO of Not Requesting Data
In January 2025, the FAO released another report titled Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024, based on Nicaraguan data obtained from official sources on food supply. The report confirmed that at least 20 out of every 100 Nicaraguans suffer from hunger.
In its letter, the Ortega regime claimed that the report lacks “objectivity” and “methodological rigor.”
“International organizations are obligated to respect member states, and the use of information must have prior consent and approval from the concerned state, which the FAO has failed to comply with,” stated the regime’s letter to the organization, sent after independent media outlets published the findings of both reports.
According to the report, women are the most affected by hunger in Nicaragua. Some 15.7% of women aged 15 to 49—approximately 290,490 individuals—suffer from anemia due to inadequate nutrition.
Nicaragua also has the highest cost of maintaining a healthy diet, at $4.61 per person per day, surpassing Honduras ($4.37), Costa Rica ($4.27), and Guatemala ($3.31).
This article was originally published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.
