Nicaraguan Director of US-Backed NGO Accused of Money Theft, Death Toll Falsification

Former director of United States-backed Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH) has been accused by three board members of the organization of stealing almost half a million dollars and inflating death tolls during the 2018 coup attempt to justify more funds and donations. 

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‘Live From Nicaragua’: What Media Didn’t Say About the 2018 Coup Attempt

On July 23, Gustavo Bermudez, Francisco Lanza Tercero, and German Herrera, board members of ANDPH, publicly accused Alvaro Leiva of stealing US$443,876 between 2017 and 2018, which US$133,876 came from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and US$310,000 from George Soros' Open Society Foundation.

Bermudez is a publicly outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government, “making his accusations more difficult to dismiss,” as  Nan McCurdy from The Intercept said. Leiva left the country in 2018 to run the NGO and set up branches from Costa Rica, who granted him political asylum. 

The board members also accused the former director of “altering the number of deaths and injuries in the ANPDH reports to ask for more resources from North American donors, which invalidates the credibility of those reports,” according to Nicaraguan journalist Adolfo Pastran. As well as falsifying signatures and altering financial reports.

Leiva claimed that more than 560 people were killed by the Nicaraguan police, with at least 4,500 injured and 1,300 kidnapped and disappeared. These fake numbers became the “official” figures used by international organizations including the Organisation of American States (OAS), used in its 2018 report on the Central American nation. 

However, and according to Ortega’s government and the Truth, Justice and Peace Commission (CVJP) “after a rigorous process of investigation, analysis, and verification, the number of deceased was determined to be 253.”

Regarding the alleged disappeared, there was only one person: a Sandinista member named Bismarck Martinez. The man was kidnapped on June 29, 2018, and found murdered in May 2019. 

The president of the criminal branch of the Supreme Court, Francisco Rosales, told journalist Pastran that Leiva’s alleged dealings violate the criminal code, the Constitution and the law against terrorism and money laundering and are crimes prosecutable ex officio; as Leiva is accused to have laundered the money through the financial system.  

As the recently published book,  ‘Live from Nicaragua: An Uprising or a Coup,’ details,  U.S.-financed NGO’s warped the narrative and political parties confused the population with false stories. 

In this case, the ANDPH  has been doing it since its foundation in 1986 in Miami under President Ronald Reagan who used it to cover the dirty war ragged by the CIA in Nicaragua.

As images and reports came out of Nicaragua in 2018, the public was fed a narrative created by the U.S., its international proxies, and the Central American nation’s elite. The fabrication envisioned a peaceful, progressive and young protest movement crushed by a leftist dictatorial regime. 

Yet as it is often the case, narratives about Latin America hide imperialistic interests and Nicaragua is no exception.

The failed coup attempt began on April 18, 2018, as the country’s ten years of peace and growing prosperity were shattered as agents of the U.S. and national elites launched a war against the state and the people's government.

It was all started as rumors spread across the country that national police fired live ammunition at student protesters and that two students were dead. The story was false and before the truth could get out, dozens of Nicaraguans were pouring into the streets to protest the following day. Three people died: a policeman, a Sandinista supporter, and a bystander. 

The conflict became violent and finally ended mid-July with the removal of the opposition roadblocks. Over 250 people were killed and many more injured. More than 250 buildings were burned down or ransacked, with public sector property losses of over US$230 million and GDP fell nearly four percent. 

More than a year after the events, Nicaragua now tries to heal its wounds with dialogue and a government-led amnesty law that aims to bring peace.