Tuesday, July 21st 2026 - 21:23 UTC
“Daniel Ortega's declaration that under his family's dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature,” Rubio said
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Tuesday that his country “will not stand idly by” after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced that the country will no longer hold elections. In a State Department statement, Rubio called on the international community to “join forces” to respond to what he described as the Nicaraguan government's attacks on the democratic principles of the hemisphere.
Ortega made the announcement on Sunday, during the commemoration of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, in which he took part in the overthrow of the Anastasio Somoza dictatorship. “There won't be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and power,” he said, in his first public appearance in two months. The 80-year-old president added that he would work with the National Assembly, which he controls, to pass laws barring opposition parties from reaching power through the ballot box. He did not specify how the measure would be formally implemented.
The announcement effectively cancels the elections scheduled for November 2027, after a constitutional reform approved in January 2025 extended the presidential term from five to six years and designated Ortega's wife, Rosario Murillo, as “co-president.” The two exercise control over nearly all branches of the state, including the armed forces, the police, and the judiciary.
