MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said his country won't be holding elections anytime soon, a statement underscoring the strongman's efforts to extend his nearly 20-year rule and dashing hopes by the opposition that he might heed their demands for a democratic vote.The announcement effectively canceled Nicaragua's next elections, originally scheduled for November 2027 after the government-controlled Congress voted in January 2025 to extend the five-year presidential term by one year.Ortega spoke on Sunday at the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution that toppled the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and first brought him to power.He returned to the presidency in 2007 and has since rewritten the constitution, crushed political opposition and solidified his control over virtually all branches of the Nicaraguan government.Since mass protests in 2018, which led to a bloody government crackdown that killed hundreds, Ortega and his wife and co-President Rosario Murillo have been holding on to power.Ortega declared himself the winner of the 2021 election — a vote widely viewed as illegitimate by the international community — after jailing all the candidates who could have possibly beaten him.
The U.S.does not recognize Ortega's presidency."There won't be anymore elections," Ortega said in a speech railing on his longtime adversary, the United States.
"Parties put in place by the Yankees, put in place by the Somoza regime, coming back to power — that story is over.""Never, never, never," he said of any future elections.Opponents and rights groups said the Sunday announcement represents an escalation as Ortega further solidifies his grip on Nicaragua.Juan Sebastián Chamorro, a 2021 candidate who was behind bars until he was released to the U.S.in 2023 with more than 200 other political prisoners, said the announcement reveals Ortega's longstanding plan to consolidate power in the hands of the Sandinista party, similar to other one-party rule countrie...