MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� Nicaragua’s lawmakers said they will carry out a plan by President to abolish elections in the Central American country, prompting renewed criticisms Wednesday by the international community.
The move was announced in a statement Tuesday by Nicaragua’s congress, which is firmly in the hands of Ortega and his wife and co-President Rosario Murillo. It said the latest constitutional overhaul will ensure Nicaragua’s 鈥減eace, security and stability.鈥�
The legislature was following through on Ortega’s announcement from the weekend that reflecting both his effort to extend his nearly 20-year rule and remove any chance of the opposition gaining power.
Under Ortega, the government has carried out a following a violent . Authorities have and others, and also shut down thousands of civil society organizations in the country.
The congress has repeatedly amended the constitution to concentrate power in Ortega’s hands and eliminate any shred of democratic independence and dissent in the country.
Ortega’s remarks on Sunday, during a speech marking the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, effectively canceled Nicaragua鈥檚 next elections. The vote was originally scheduled for November 2027 after the government-controlled congress voted in January 2025 to extend the five-year presidential term by one year.
Volker T眉rk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, on Wednesday sharply condemned Nicaragua’s developments, saying that 鈥減eople of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office.鈥�
鈥淭hese latest developments further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law,鈥� T眉rk said in a statement.
Nicaragua’s government did not respond to a request for comment on the criticisms.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the move by Ortega and Murillo to eliminate elections in Nicaragua 鈥渓ays bare their true authoritarian nature.鈥�
鈥淭he United States calls on the international community to join forces to demonstrate to the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship that it cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere,鈥� Rubio wrote in a statement.
The Trump administration 鈥� despite harsh words, sanctions and repeated criticisms 鈥� has made few major moves against Nicaragua鈥檚 government. In nearby El Salvador, where , an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has also whittled away democratic checks-and-balances and gone after critics, the .
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