The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, issued an official statement this Tuesday, calling on the international community to join forces to isolate the regime of Daniel Ortega, following the dictator's announcement that Nicaragua will not hold elections again.
Rubio responded this way to the announcement by Ortega on Sunday, during the event commemorating the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution in Managua, where he openly declared: "They would love to win elections to make the schools a reality. But they should forget it: there will be no more elections here, so that they can try to seize the government, seize power."
In his official statement published on the State Department's website, Rubio stated that Ortega's words "expose the true authoritarian nature" of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship and noted that the regime has abandoned "even the semblance of popular consent."
The head of U.S. diplomacy was clear in his demand: "The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections."
Rubio urged the international community to join forces to show the dictatorship that "it cannot expect to maintain normal relations with other nations while undermining the fundamental principles of our democratic hemisphere."
The announcement by Ortega, 80 years old and in power since 2007, did not surprise the opposition in exile. The opposition figure Juan Sebastián Chamorro stated that the dictator "has taken off another mask," confirming that he never intended to allow the opposition to contest power through electoral means.
The regime had already taken concrete steps in that direction. The constitutional reform approved in January 2025 and in effect since February 18 of that year altered 185 of the 198 articles of the Nicaraguan Constitution: it extended the presidential term from five to six years, created the position of co-president for Rosario Murillo—Ortega's wife—established indefinite re-election, and eliminated the independence of the branches of government.
As a result of that reform, the general elections scheduled for November 2026 had already been moved to November 2027. With his statement on Sunday, Ortega ruled out any future electoral process.
The OAS demanded in June by consensus the restoration of democracy in Nicaragua and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, while Human Rights Watch documented at least 87 political prisoners in the country during that year.
The pressure from Washington on Managua has intensified in recent months. In April, the U.S. sanctioned the children of Ortega and Murillo along with seven mining companies linked to the regime.
In June, he imposed visa restrictions on more than 100 officials and their families, raising the total number of sanctioned individuals under the Trump administration to over 2,350 people.
Nicaragua's isolation has deepened following the capture in January of this year of Nicolás Maduro, a historical ally of Managua.
The opposition movement Renacer denounced that the Ortega and Murillo dictatorship has "explicitly abandoned the democratic system," while Rubio made it clear that all options remain on the table, including new financial sanctions and visa restrictions.
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