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* Russian state media have entered Nicaraguan universities to give seminars to future communicators.
** The Ortega-Murillo government has been adopting censorship and propaganda tactics similar to the Russian model.
Expediente Público and ProBox
The relationship between Russia and Nicaragua has intensified in recent years, generating an alliance that has extended to the country’s educational and media spheres. An investigation by the Latin American Digital Observatory ProBox concludes this.
The objective in this cooperation is clear: to consolidate the official propaganda and the indoctrination of the new generations.
Russia is reportedly providing crucial support to Nicaragua to develop a sophisticated propaganda apparatus that controls and manipulates information, silencing detractors, reveals ProBox.
A clear example of this strategy is the recent webinar organized by Sputnik International News Agency and Radio Sputnik for students of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN Managua and UNAN León) and Casimiro Sotelo, formerly Central American University (UCA).
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Russia enters journalism schools
The Russian model of disinformation and indoctrination was presented as a “master class” on modern media market trends and the fight against fake news at UNAN-Managua on May 30, under the auspices of the Ortega-Murillo regime.
The lack of transparency about the content of these sessions and the history of disinformation surrounding Sputnik in the international arena raise serious doubts about the true intentions behind this initiative.
Network analysis
As part of the Russian training of journalists in Nicaragua, ProBox conducted a social media search using keywords.
We searched for publications on the so-called “blessings and victories” national education strategy, protagonist education, Sputnik News Agency, citizen power media, Casimiro Sotelo University, Russia, student indoctrination in Nicaragua and Communication Career, UCA confiscated.
These specialized searches resulted in 188 related mentions.
Of these, publications mentioned a workshop given by the Sputnik International News Agency at the former UCA as part of an international project called Sputnik Pro in more than 100 countries around the world.
This training was carried out on June 19. And, moreover, in an alliance coordinated by the son of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, Edmundo.
Another publication mentioned that the content of the training was on writing tips for “creating attractive news”, according to Sputnik’s experience.
Another search was carried out including some hashtags usually used by the Sandinista digital troops on social media such as #4519lapatrialarevolución.
This expanded the data on how the conversation about the Russian workshops behaved in digital spaces, highlighting on Instagram posts that repeated the exact same text with the aforementioned hashtag.
An inside look at the confiscated UCA
In addition, in one of these publications there were comments about strengthening the “talent of young people” of the confiscated UCA, which for decades was a bastion of critical thinking and quality education in Nicaragua.
The UCA stood out as a key space in the resistance against the authoritarian regime, and its relevance was such that on August 16, 2022, the regime decided to close it, dealing a hard blow to one of the last independent voices in the country.
A space that now, under the name of “Universidad Nacional Casimiro Sotelo Montenegro” serves the opposite purpose: to “train” or indoctrinate students to replicate the propaganda, disinformation and false information produced by the pro-government media.
Although there is very little transparency and information about the content of the workshop provided by Sputnik, a media outlet linked to the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of the video publications shows statements made by one of the participants.
“Sputnik teaches us that as future communicators in this country we must prolong a news that is truthful, bold and objective for society,” he said.
This might seem completely harmless and even beneficial. However, these workshops align with disinformation and information control tactics inspired by the Russian model in a repressive country like Nicaragua, details Probox.
Rated with one of the worst conditions for freedom of expression, according to Freedom House, an online publication that the Ortega government deems “contrary to the interests of the homeland” can be severely penalized.
Far from being neutral, these spaces seek to indoctrinate young people, teaching them tools and tactics not only to reinforce censorship, but also to contaminate digital spaces with propaganda and often false information, favoring and amplifying the regime’s narratives.
The indoctrination extends to other houses of study
Exactly three weeks after the UCA training, this workshop was repeated on July 10 by Sputnik News Agency with students from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-León).
Like the previous event, this one was conducted with online facilitators, but students physically attended at the university facilities.
Once again the exact same online caption was used to promote the event along with the hashtag #4519LaPatriaLaRevolución.
On this occasion, the narrative of the workshop content focused on “asymmetry in communication and the challenges facing modern journalism“.
Influence beyond the classroom
In addition to entering Nicaraguan universities, Russia’s ascendancy in the communications field is also consolidated in the communications structure of the Nicaraguan regime.
On July 17, a face-to-face meeting took place between the head of Sputnik News’ Latin America Department, Daria Yuryeva, and the coordinators of Nicaragua’s Citizen Power Media, specifically the main coordinator, Daniel Ortega’s son.
Although the publications on this meeting did not comment on the content or the narrative promoted, in a note from El 19 Digital the head of Sputnik was quoted as commenting on the common interest between Russia and Nicaragua in terms of unfriendly governments (such as the US), and the use of digital platforms as a means to reach more people.
Sustained exchange
Also noteworthy is a visit by Channel 8 producer Edilson Orozco to a Rossotrudnichestvo agency program in Russia as part of the SputnikPro World project and the “New Generation” program.
This visit was documented on June 30, and evidences the participation of communicators of the Sandinista regime in at least two Sputnik training programs, both face-to-face in Russia and virtual in Nicaragua.
The officialist narrative promoted by followers of the dictatorship in X, led by accounts linked to the regime, seeks to saturate the digital space with manipulated mentions and propaganda, disguising repression and state crimes. ProBox has been recording this situation.
Between January and June 2023, ProBox recorded 135 hashtags positioned on X (formerly Twitter).
A total of 99 trends were linked to the Ortega-Murillo regime, specifically to inauthentically coordinated users (Sandinista digital troops).
From Nicaragua, and with the help of Russia, the manipulation of networks is reinforced by training regime communicators in strategies to amplify their narrative.
Exchange of authoritarian tactics
The Russian government’s alliance with the Ortega-Murillo regime goes far beyond the media.
The visit of officials and military officials from Vladimir Putin’s core strategists is evidence of a key Russian alliance with Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua.
The president of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, was received with effusive words from Rosario Murillo during the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, where he highlighted the friendship between the two countries.
Volodin, a well-known key political ally in shaping Putin’s presidential campaigns, reaffirmed Russia’s continued support for Nicaragua at an event that underscored the strong relationship between the two governments. This is not the first time Volodin has visited Managua.
In February 2024, Ortega also received Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, who heads the Kremlin’s intelligence and security strategy.
Patrushev, one of Russia’s most prominent figures, confirmed that Latin America and the Caribbean remain strategic priorities for Moscow, consolidating Nicaragua as a key point in its operations.
Censorship tactics
This relationship between Russia and Nicaragua is not limited to diplomacy and security, but also encompasses the control of information. Both countries have adopted similar tactics of censorship and propaganda in their respective territories.
For example, Nicaragua enacted the Cybercrime Law in 2020, legislation that criminalizes the “dissemination of false information” on the internet, very much in line with the Fake News Law that Russia implemented in 2019.
These ambiguous laws allow both regimes to silence critics under the pretext of maintaining public order.
In addition, both governments have benefited from the use of digital platforms to amplify state propaganda and discredit the opposition.
Russia, known for its disinformation operations globally, especially in the 2016 U.S. elections, has exported these tactics to Nicaragua, where the Ortega regime uses trolls and fake accounts to manipulate public perception and neutralize dissent on social networks.
Cybersecurity cooperation, formalized in 2016, has also allowed Nicaragua to adopt mass surveillance technologies and strategies, similar to those Russia has used to control public discourse and suppress online opposition.
This collaboration in the digital sphere reinforces the Nicaraguan regime’s ability to maintain tight control over information.
The international community must pay attention to the Russian influence on education and media in Nicaragua, as it not only represents a threat to freedom of expression in the country, but also sets a dangerous precedent for the region.
Its implications go far beyond Nicaragua’s borders, Probox concludes.
For more information on socio-political manipulation on social media you can follow us at @proboxve
