Nicaragua Bans Tourists From Bringing Bibles Into Country as Persecution Intensifies
The Nicaraguan government has implemented a ban prohibiting foreign tourists and visitors from bringing Bibles into the country, marking a dramatic escalation in the regime's crackdown on Christianity and religious freedom.
The new regulation, enforced at airports and border crossings, requires customs officials to confiscate Bibles found in the luggage of incoming travelers. Visitors attempting to enter Nicaragua with Scripture now face having their Bibles seized, with officials providing no clear process for retrieval or compensation.
The policy represents the latest action in what human rights organizations describe as systematic persecution of Christians under President Daniel Ortega's government.
Nicaragua has closed hundreds of Christian organizations, expelled missionaries, arrested priests and pastors, and seized church property over the past several years.
Religious freedom advocates report that the Bible ban extends beyond tourists to include Nicaraguans returning from abroad. Citizens who attempt to bring Bibles back into their own country after traveling internationally are also subject to confiscation, effectively cutting off one avenue for distributing Scripture in a nation where church resources have been dramatically constrained.
The Ortega regime has justified its actions against religious institutions by accusing churches of supporting opposition political movements. However, the blanket prohibition on Bible importation affects all Christian denominations and individuals regardless of political involvement.
Christian leaders inside Nicaragua have confirmed the policy's implementation, describing increasing difficulty in obtaining religious materials as the government tightens control over what it considers potential threats to its authority. Several pastors have been imprisoned, and congregations report surveillance and intimidation from security forces.
International human rights organizations have condemned Nicaragua's actions as violations of religious freedom protected under international law. The United States and several European nations have imposed sanctions on Nicaraguan officials, though the Ortega government has shown no indication of reversing its anti Christian policies.
The Bible ban has drawn comparisons to persecution in communist nations during the Cold War, when Christian materials were similarly prohibited and believers faced imprisonment for possessing Scripture.
THE CRUSADER'S OPINION
Nicaragua is banning Bibles.
Not pornography. Not drugs. Not weapons.
Bibles.
Because dictators know what weak churches forget: Scripture is dangerous.
It tells people they answer to God, not governments.
It proclaims authority higher than Ortega's.
So he bans it at the border like contraband.
This is what actual persecution looks like while Western Christians complain about pronouns.
Nicaraguan believers can't get Bibles. Their churches are closed. Their pastors are in prison.
And the regime knows exactly what it's doing.
You don't fear something powerless.
Ortega fears the Word because the Word exposes him.
Watch what happens when Christians can't be intimidated into silence.
TAKE ACTION
Support Persecuted Nicaraguan Christians: Open Doors USA (Nicaragua is a priority persecution location) Website: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/nicaragua Phone: +1 (888) 524-2535
Send Bibles to Latin America: The Bible League International Website: https://www.bibleleague.org Email: info@bibleleague.org Phone: +1 (866) 825-4636
Contact Your Representatives: Demand action on Nicaragua's religious persecution Find your elected officials and write: "Nicaragua is confiscating Bibles and imprisoning pastors. What is our government doing to pressure the Ortega regime on religious freedom violations?"
Start a Conversation: Ask people: "If a government fears Bibles enough to ban them, what does that tell you about the power of Scripture?" Use Nicaragua's persecution to challenge comfortable Christians about what they're willing to risk for their faith.
Donate to Underground Bible Distribution: Voice of the Martyrs (smuggles Bibles into restricted nations) Website: https://www.persecution.com Email: thevoice@vom-usa.org Phone: +1 (918) 337-8015
