Nicaraguas Sandinista dictator says nation will no longer hold elections

Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega said the Central American country would no longer hold elections, further closing off any potential path for the opposition to challenge the government he leads with his wife, Rosario Murillo.Ortega, Nicaragua’s longest-serving leader, has remained in power since 2007 after previously governing during the 1980s.His current presidential term is scheduled to run through 2027.“There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,” Ortega said.He delivered the remarks Sunday during a speech commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution, in which Ortega participated in the overthrow of the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.The declaration appeared to eliminate the possibility of a future electoral challenge as Ortega and Murillo continue consolidating control over the country’s political institutions.“The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over — never again,” Ortega declared.Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S.

State Department for comment.The Trump administration has described the Ortega-Murillo government as a dictatorship and imposed sanctions on members of the government and their allies.The State Department has also enacted visa restrictions targeting more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their family members.“The United States stands with the Nicaraguan people who, like Rivera, aspire to see a free Nicaragua,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in June.The Biden administration previously said Ortega illegitimately awarded himself another term following Nicaragua’s disputed 2021 presidential election.Authorities arrested presidential candidates, opposition figures, business leaders and journalists ahead of that vote as the government intensified its criminalization of dissent.Ortega and Murillo further expanded their authority through sweeping constitutional changes that took eff...