19 de febrero 2025
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The suspension of funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is having a negative impact globally, and Nicaragua is no exception. Nicaraguan civil society organizations working in exile for the defense of human rights and democracy are just some of the NGOs feeling the suspension as a hard blow that is throwing them off balance, although they affirm that the cut in support will not knock them down.
The suspension of USAID support resulted from an executive order by President Donald Trump, and is threatening the continuity of programs and projects, harming millions of people who until now have benefited from U.S. aid. In 2024, USAID's contribution to Latin America was $2.3 billion, a little more than 5% of the Agency's global contribution last year.
Nicaraguan NGOs in exile “depend on international aid, and an important number of these organizations were linked to U.S. government programs. So this suspension directly affects them,” said the director of the Center for Transdisciplinary Studies of Central America (CETCAM), Elvira Cuadra.
What began as a temporary ninety-day measure to “reduce government spending and bureaucracy, reevaluate program effectiveness and prevent potential misuse of funds” has morphed into an uncertain situation for USAID, an entity whose “time to die has come,” according to tycoon Elon Musk, Trump's appointee as head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.
A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's order on February 10, but according to The New York Times,Trump plans to reduce USAID staff from 10,000 to 290 positions, which the Trump administration considers “essential”. He has also transferred control of the USAID to the State Department, ending six decades of operations of the agency, which has committed billions of dollars to humanitarian programs in 130 countries around the world. In Latin America, the USAID office staff would be reduced to eight people.
“We're affected, but we're still standing”
Cuadra, who directs a think tank dedicated to the study of Nicaraguan society and the rest of the region, said that “Nicaraguan organizations in exile are going to have a significant, but not definitive, decrease in their activities.” The Nicaraguan sociologist also emphasized that “the work of advocacy, accompaniment, and the defense of rights, is done largely out of commitment, conviction and –sometimes– with the few resources the exiles themselves have.”
Gonzalo Carrión, lawyer and advocate for the Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, acknowledged that the U.S. decision will “greatly affect” civil organizations. At the same time, he stressed that Nicaraguan NGOs in exile remain committed to documenting human rights violations, accompanying victims, and keeping alive the voice of Nicaraguan civil society.
“We're affected, but we're still standing. We have not forgotten our commitment to the population,” said Carrión. In the context of this suspension of U.S. aid, “we are committed to continuing our work as human rights defenders,” he added.
Carrión recalled that the Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, like most Nicaraguan organizations in exile, was born “in the midst of adversity” and –thanks to the commitment of activists– has managed to consolidate itself as one of the strongest organizations for the defense of Nicaraguans’ human rights. This fuels his optimism that other sources of funding will emerge.
Cuadra said that the suspension of U.S aid will be felt both inside and outside Nicaragua. She pointed out that in the country “USAID still had some programs that benefited very vulnerable populations. These programs are also suspended, leaving people practically unprotected.” For organizations in exile, she said, “it's not like we have our own survival solved; it will certainly affect us [as well].”
The U.S. measure puts at risk programs carried out in exile such as legal advisory services to help migrants, accompaniment of victims of the Daniel Ortega-Rosario Murillo regime, human rights defense work, the struggle for justice, protection of vulnerable groups, and humanitarian aid to refugees.
USAID funding in Nicaragua
USAID funding to Nicaragua has had several ups and downs in the last seven years. In 2018, when the country's socio-political crisis began, the U.S. agency provided $24 million for democracy, human rights, education, economic development, health, security and humanitarian assistance programs, according to official U.S. foreign aid data.
In 2019, USAID assistance to Nicaragua rose to $34 million, the highest year of funding. The following year, in 2020, aid fell to $25 million and in 2021, it went back up to $31 million.
In 2022, USAID funding to Nicaragua experienced its largest drop, to only $21 million. In 2023, aid rose to $25 million, and in 2024, the total was $26 million.
Although the loss of foreign aid to Nicaragua began in 2018, it became more pronounced between 2022 and 2024, with the closing of more than 5,600 NGOs, with the Ortega-Murillo regime accusing them of being “foreign agents” and of “not reporting their financial statements.”
“USAID itself in Nicaragua had to significantly reduce its own programs because the entire network of social organizations that Nicaragua had built over several decades was eliminated [by the regime],” Cuadra said.
Now, with the suspension of USAID funding, the future of civil organizations is “quite uncertain,” according to Cuadra. In Latin America “most of the aid for these types of organizations came from U.S. programs, particularly in Central America, so there is an overall impact,” she added.
Carrión stressed that while there is the option of seeking support from other developed countries, in recent years European countries have significantly reduced their cooperation with Latin America, including Central America, and have other priorities on their agenda, “things that are closer to their own countries,” according to Carrión.
Stephani López, a consultant on migration policies, told EFE news agency that although there are other sources of financing such as loans from multilateral organizations, these “are not enough to fill the gap left by USAID.” This situation forces governments and NGOs to take a more active role in the sustainability of their projects.
USAID in Latin America
According to official U.S. government data, in 2024 USAID distributed more than $44 billion in global aid. Of this, around $2.3 billion was directed to initiatives in Latin America, representing a fundamental pillar for various programs in the region.
“The United States is a key donor who is impossible to substitute. Even if we add up all the European contributions in Colombia, the total wouldn't be even half of what the U.S. contributed,” Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst for the Andean region of Crisis Group, told EFE.
In Colombia, 2024 USAID contributions amounted to almost $400 million. Aid was earmarked for humanitarian programs, judicial aid, security, education, health, peace, equality, environment, culture and migration. The situation is similar in other countries in the region.
The reduction in U.S. aid also affects key technical areas in Brazil and Peru, where authorities have expressed concern about the possible reduction of funds earmarked for the protection of the Amazon and the fight against drug trafficking.
In Guatemala, the freezing of $275.3 million in aid puts at risk projects in areas such as justice, education, health, women's rights and agriculture, while in Honduras, where close to $100 million was received in 2024, key sectors such as education, health, agriculture and attention to migrants, as well as the fight against corruption, will be affected.
Some are celebrating the suspension of USAID
The U.S. decision to freeze foreign aid has civil society organizations around the world on edge, but the move has been welcomed by some governments in the region.
In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele celebrated the U.S. action and even said that “most governments don't want USAID funds to flow to their countries” because much of that money is used to finance opposition groups.
“Although it’s marketed as support for development, democracy and human rights, most of these [USAID] funds are channeled to opposition groups, NGOs with political agendas, and destabilizing movements,” Bukele said in an English-language message posted on the Elon Musk-owned X social media platform.
In Honduras, the government of Xiomara Castro has minimized the U.S. move. The Honduran Foreign Minister, Eduardo Enrique Reina, said that the organizations most affected by Trump's order will be NGOs that are critical of the government.
In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum also welcomed the suspension of the aid, saying that it has financed opposition groups, despite the fact that organizations that support migrants, women and LGBTI people are warning they are at risk of disappearing.
Meanwhile, the Ortega-Murillo regime, which has persecuted and closed more than 5,600 NGOs in Nicaragua in the last two years, has not said anything about the suspension of USAID funding and the impact Trump's order will have on the country.
The reduction of USAID will create a huge gap that governments will have to deal with, as up til now, the U.S. contribution has represented 47% of global spending on humanitarian assistance. This will be “a significant budgetary challenge, in a context of common fiscal challenges throughout the region,” warned Elizabeth Dickinson.
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.
