Nicaragua has implemented a ban prohibiting tourists from bringing Bibles into the country, a move confirmed by notices posted at Tica Bus terminals in Costa Rica that serve routes to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua.
The restrictions, which also apply to newspapers, magazines, books, drones and cameras, have been in place for over six months, according to representatives from Tica Bus in Honduras and El Salvador who confirmed the existence of the policy.
It is part of a broader pattern of escalating repression against religious freedom and civil liberties in Nicaragua, where authorities have shut down more than 5,000 independent civil society organisations since April 2018, including over 1,300 with religious affiliations.
“Public religious processions have been banned unless organised by groups aligned with the government. In several documented cases, religious leaders have been detained arbitrarily, their movements restricted and their activities subject to state approval,” Christian Post said.
Daniel Ortega, former bank robber and leader of the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front (“FSLN”) Party, has been the dictator President of Nicaragua since 2007. From February 2025, Ortega has been co-dictator co-President, sharing the role with his wife, Rosario Murillo.
“Churches have been among the most outspoken critics of President Daniel Ortega’s regime,” Christianity Daily reported.
“A [2025] CSW report, ‘Total Control: The Eradication of Independent Voices in Nicaragua’, identified 222 cases of religious persecution during [2024] alone, including forced cancellations of worship services, police surveillance, and requirements that clergy check in weekly with authorities. The same investigation documented the detention of 46 religious leaders in 2024, with some released rapidly and others held for prolonged periods,” the outlet added.
The UK-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (“CSW”) has condemned the ban on visitors bringing a Bible into the country, calling it highly concerning given the current context of repression. The group has urged the Nicaraguan government to lift the restriction immediately.
The Expose Urgently Needs Your Help…
Can you please help to keep the lights on with The Expose’s honest, reliable, powerful and truthful journalism?
Your Government & Big Tech organisations
try to silence & shut down The Expose.
So we need your help to ensure
we can continue to bring you the
facts the mainstream refuses to.
The government does not fund us
to publish lies and propaganda on their
behalf like the Mainstream Media.
Instead, we rely solely on your support. So
please support us in our efforts to bring
you honest, reliable, investigative journalism
today. It’s secure, quick and easy.
Please choose your preferred method below to show your support.
Categories: Breaking News, World News
wow. Of course, this was not covered by the US press.
Hi Rhoda,
This seems a strange article.
The Nicaraguans are mainly Christian, so why would they not want more Bibles.
Is there a little more to this story?
Seems they have also banned books and newspapers.
Look who’s running the country!!!
Look who’s running yours! People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Unless we’re in Christ, we all live in “glass houses”!
Hi Dave Owen, in our articles, words or phrases in blue type (the colour blue) indicate that the words are hyperlinked to a source. You can follow any of these links by clicking on the word/s in blue type and it will take you to the source.
There are several sources noted in the article above (see word/s in blue type) which you can read to find out more. To answer you specific query, perhaps you could start with the following, the hyperlink (shown below) for which is contained in the words “has condemned the ban” in the second last sentence:
https://www.csw.org.uk/2025/12/12/press/6694/article.htm
Well, it says “Public religious processions have been banned unless organised by groups aligned with the government.”
So I guess the Govt. wants control of the church. I’m thinking this may be similar to how China has been run by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) since 1949 and always maintained an official stance of atheism ever since but Christian churches were running “underground” after that and so in 1982, the CCP formally recognised Protestantism and Catholicism as officially sanctioned religions. The Govt. figured that the churches were happening anyway, so if they officially sanctioned them, then they could run their own CCP approved churches, maybe keep better control of the people and maintain what the churches can and can’t do.
Basically trying to have the Govt. in charge instead of God.
Hi A Person, There seems to be a common thread with socialism/communism taking control of or eliminating religion/faiths.
Another case was Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe attempted to impose scientific socialism (aka Marxism) in Zimbabwe starting in the mid-1980s (Mugabe took power in 1980). Mugabe was backed by the Chinese, even before he began to rule as the country’s dictator, until he was deposed via a coup to be replaced by another Chinese/Russian backed puppet.
https://www.cfr.org/report/chinas-rising-role-africa
https://www.aiddata.org/blog/peeking-behind-the-curtain-analyzing-chinese-aid-and-influence-in-zimbabwe
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/28/zimbabwe-coup-china-benefits-from-president-emmerson-mnangagwa-post-mugabe.html
In 2007, Nolbert Kunonga, a staunch supporter of then President Robert Mugabe, used his political connections to gain control of Anglican church assets, including churches, clergy houses and vehicles, with the backing of police and security forces. Then, the Government (through Kunonga) installed their own “priests” in each church. Congregations were forced out of their places of worship and had to worship in makeshift locations such as marquees. It did finally get sorted out but it took a few years for the Anglicans to regain their churches from, effectively, the Government. Whether they were able to root out all the government-appointed “priests,” I don’t know.
https://www.cfr.org/blog/anglicans-zimbabwe-regain-cathedral-and-other-properties
These instances are not isolated to merely a few communist regimes, it is a trait of communism. Communists/Marxists aim to eliminate religion because they view it as a form of spiritual oppression that distracts the masses from their material suffering and prevents revolutionary action. In short, religion stands in their way of imposing a communist dictatorship – as is clearly being seen in Nicaragua.
“China has backed Mugabe even as he was slammed in the West for despotic rule” one of the articles reads. Interesting. I don’t recall having heard on the mainstream news on the telly about close ties between China and Zimbabwe!
Hmm, maybe the Commies do tend to take over the religions worldwide, I’m not sure 🤔. Although it mentions in the last article there that the Anglican Church was supporting non-hetero rights so they’ve lost my support there anyway. I’m brutal 🙂.
A Person, you’re not brutal, you’re realistic.
Dave Owen, note that communist countries that tolerate Christianity require that every pastor or priest be vetted and approved by the government before they can take office and can be removed whenever the government wants them out. This is to assure that none of them criticize how the government operates.
The churches that are still there agreed to this, thinking some religious freedom was better than none.
The Nicaraguans are mainly Catholic as are all Central and South American countries…Catholics are NOT Christians
You’ll find that Ortega converted to Catholicism specifically to root out political agitation – not longer after that he promptly banned those who were using the power of religion for political ends and deported them. And jailed the head priest who was the most vocal politically and who refused to leave.
Last year the government provided a large stadium for a Christian rally. They are not against Christianity, and it is part of their culture*, when it is focussed on preaching Jesus. So, the Nicaraguans *used* to be mainly catholic, but that is not the direction the country is going now.
*indeed, from what I have seen, Nica actually celebrates Christ. Not Mary, nor other semi-dieties like other Centro/South American countries who are controlled by Latin American Catholicism.
Of course they are! Catholicism is just one of many branches of Christianity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rzv9meq3Yg A Driver of the financial future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_WQAf1b0IE the liberals are a syop to drive the stupid to the conservatives. ol’ Pierre here is a registered w e f member as is his immigrant wife …. moose on the loose , another Trojan horse !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KRFIHNnHlA here comes the propaganda to sell it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD715hczjAE here it comes !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37_w3MXoqng get the popcorn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P-j9Jiu0G0 this M P is a registered w e f member as is her military husband ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKhH3vxm2A ivermectin
I’d bet the Catholic church doesn’t want any evangelical Christian missionaries in the country
that is usually the way in Latin American countries. Catholicism has been pushed from Nica.
[…] Nicaragua bans visitors from bringing Bibles into the country Nicaragua has implemented a ban prohibiting tourists from bringing Bibles into the country, a move confirmed by notices posted at Tica Bus terminals in Costa Rica that serve routes to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua. […]
Is it just fictional works that they’re banning?…
No, the Koran and Darwin’s books are still allowed.
Nicaragua. Interesting memories.
After Venezuela, on to Nicaragua.
Cannibal DNA cannot tolerate anything Holy.
OK, if this article was informed and genuine it would discuss the difference between “Christians” who are loud political voices, and Christians are who are focused on reaching the lost for Christ. Because there is a big difference between the two. The dictator has been active in shutting down “Christian” organisations and leaders who are openly attacking the government. It is not going after those who are simply reaching the lost – in fact there have been major revivals in Nicaragua over the last year which have been directly supported by the government. They are seeing who is going to agitate against them, and who is simply there to do what Jesus told us to do. I don’t recall Jesus, or any of the disciples, agitating for political change. Maybe if “Christians” focussed on Jesus and His ministry, they wouldn’t run into issue with the government. Many people in Nicaragua are openly Christian and the nation strongly celebrates Christianity.
It isn’t a ban on using bibles in the country. Given that it crosses a range of items, all to do with protecting the government, I can suggest that it is more about the sort of literature that is coming into the country. Not all bibles are the same either.
more than one religion causes division. How can one person who carries tablets out of the said mountains and their be two religions, what was the tablet carrier promoting ? All religions or just one ?
Who cares? It’s best to keep religious fairy stories out of everywhere.
[…] Nicaragua bans visitors from bringing Bibles into the country, a move confirmed by notices posted at Tica Bus terminals in Costa Rica that serve routes to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua. […]