All articles tagged with #nicaragua
Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega said at a rally that the country is moving toward not holding a presidential election next year, as he tightens his grip on power with co-president Rosario Murillo and constitutional reforms that extend terms. The announcement follows years of crackdowns on opponents and a disputed 2021 vote, drawing strong condemnation from the United States and others who say the regime is eroding democracy and human rights.
At a rally marking the Sandinista Revolution, Daniel Ortega declared that Nicaragua will never again hold elections, even though a 2025 constitutional reform extended the presidential term and the next vote is now slated for 2027. He accused opposition groups—many exiled or jailed—of trying to seize power with U.S. backing, announced new laws to block them, and asserted that the era of foreign-installed governments is over, as international pressure for a political transition persists.
Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega announced there will be no future elections, solidifying a two-decade grip on power with his wife Rosario Murillo as co-president after constitutional reforms; critics describe the move as a dynastic, one-party dictatorship, with opposition leaders exiled or jailed and the 2021 vote widely disputed.
President Daniel Ortega said Nicaragua will never again hold elections, as he and Rosario Murillo consolidate power after 2025 constitutional changes that expand the presidency’s control over the legislature, judiciary and electoral body, effectively sidelining opposition and drawing international concern and sanctions.
President Daniel Ortega announced there will be no more elections in Nicaragua, arguing the US-backed opposition cannot seize power; the statement follows a disputed 2021 vote, a six-year term with Rosario Murillo as co-president, and years of repression critics say have crushed dissent, drawing international human rights scrutiny.
Daniel Ortega announced there will be no more elections in Nicaragua and said he would work with the National Assembly to pass laws to build a wall against the opposition, a move critics describe as a transition to a family dictatorship amid past crackdown on dissent, jailed opponents, and civil-society restrictions.
Nicaragua cut diplomatic ties with Italy after Rome pressed for the extradition of Alessio Casimirri, convicted in the 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro. Nicaragua says it cannot extradite its own citizens, while Italy says it will continue to seek Casimirri’s extradition and accountability for Moro’s killing.
NOAA satellite imagery shows Tropical Storm Cristina forming off the coast of Nicaragua in the eastern Pacific, with updates ongoing as of June 9, 2026.
Brooklyn Rivera, an indigenous leader in Nicaragua, has died in custody after nearly three years in detention, a development that underscores ongoing concerns about political imprisonment and human rights under the Ortega government.
Brooklyn Rivera, a longtime Miskito indigenous advocate who helped win limited autonomy for Nicaragua’s northeast coast, died after nearly three years in government detention. The state attributed his death to a bacterial infection following Covid-19, while human rights groups condemned the circumstances as part of a pattern of disappearances and arbitrary detention and urged accountability.
Indigenous Miskito leader Brooklyn Rivera has died at 73 after years in state custody in Nicaragua; the government says the death was due to a bacterial infection following COVID-19, but rights advocates and UN experts contest the circumstances, citing an extended period of enforced disappearance with no independent medical oversight since Rivera’s September 2023 arrest on terrorism charges. The case has sparked international condemnation, including US calls for accountability and the demand for the release of political prisoners, as Rivera’s activism and leadership of Indigenous rights groups were central to his opposition to the Ortega–Murillo government.
Nicaragua has ended visa-free entry for Cuban citizens, cutting a route that had allowed thousands of Cubans to transit through Nicaragua on their way to the United States, in what officials and analysts describe as a response to U.S. pressure.
Nicaragua’s government has blocked a key transit route used by Cuban migrants seeking to reach the United States, underscoring ongoing regional migration challenges and shifting routes through Central America.
During a House Foreign Affairs hearing, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chair Maria Salazar urged strong U.S. action to defend religious liberty, spotlighting Nicaragua’s crackdown under Ortega and Murillo—expulsions of clergy, church closures, arrests of faith-based NGOs, and bans on processions—while stressing the resilience of Nicaragua’s Catholic and Evangelical communities and signaling a broader U.S. commitment to religious rights in the Western Hemisphere.
A California federal judge invalidated the Trump administration's attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for about 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, ruling the decision was pre-ordained and unlawful, thus restoring their legal protections and work rights.