Religious leaders have been a prime target of the regime since the political crisis of 2018, when they aided anti-regime protesters. At least 260 clergy members have been forced into exile, and many were arbitrarily imprisoned before being expelled and stripped of their citizenship.

Many Christian NGOs that provided critical social support services have been shut down in a crackdown on all independent civil society as Ortega and Murillo seek to consolidate totalitarian rule. This week, a Baptist denomination was stripped of its legal status, making it the 18th religious denomination to be banned in Nicaragua.