U.S. Condemns Ortega Move to End Nicaragua Elections as 80-Year-Old Tightens Family Rule
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 22
U.S. Condemns Ortega Move to End Nicaragua Elections as 80-Year-Old Tightens Family Rule
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 22
Summary
The State Department on Tuesday denounced Daniel Ortega’s declaration that Nicaragua will never again hold elections, saying he and co-president Rosario Murillo had dropped even the pretense of popular consent.
Ortega, 80, said future votes would be scrapped to stop opposition parties from "seizing the government," turning an earlier move against the 2027 election into an open-ended end to electoral competition.
Washington said the Ortega-Murillo government threatens U.S. regional security interests through repression, alleged facilitation of illegal immigration, and deeper ties with adversarial powers, while urging other countries to abandon business as usual.
The announcement caps years of power consolidation since Ortega’s 2007 return, including a 2025 constitutional change creating the co-president post for Murillo and a family network that controls key media and diplomatic roles.