Nicaragua

Nicaragua's Regime Drops the Pretense of Democracy

After years of rigged elections and political repression, President Daniel Ortega says Nicaraguans will no longer vote at all.

Katarina Hall | 7.21.2026 2:18 PM

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(Adani Samat/State Duma of the Russian Federation/Envato)

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced on Sunday that the country will no longer hold elections, preventing the opposition from competing for power and further cementing his authoritarian grip on the country.

"There will never be elections here again so that [the opposition] can try to seize the government, to seize power," Ortega said in front of thousands of state employees during an official ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, which first brought him into power.

"We will work with the National Assembly and the relevant institutions on laws, because we need laws that build a wall, a barrier, against the coup plotters and the traitors who sell out their country," he added.

General elections had been scheduled for November 2027. Ortega provided few details about the election ban, making it unclear whether the elections will be completely canceled or whether only the opposition will be prevented from taking part. Either way, the move eliminates the possibility of an electoral challenge to his rule.

Ortega, now 80 years old, is a former guerrilla fighter who first came to power after the Sandinista Revolution and served as president from 1985 to 1990.........

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