Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are pushing constitutional reforms that would extend presidential terms, postpone the next elections until late 2028, and exclude the opposition, in a scenario where the regime has spent 19 years concentrating power and restricting electoral avenues in Nicaragua.
Pressure on the democratic system intensified after Ortega declared in July that there would be no "more elections" in the country. On September 1, the National Assembly, controlled by the Sandinistas, unanimously approved a package of constitutional changes drafted in secret.
The changes came less than two years after Parliament approved a new Constitution in January 2025. That charter allowed Ortega and Murillo, his wife, to govern as "co-presidents" and subordinated the Legislative and Judicial branches to the Executive.
"After 19 years in power, their top leaders have crushed the independence of government institutions, seized control of the economy, closed the civic space in the country, and persecuted dissidents abroad," said Jessica Ludwig, a global policy researcher at the Bush Institute.
The concentration of power and internal repression
Ortega participated as a guerrilla leader in the overthrow of the Somoza family dictatorship by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in 1979. He was president from 1984 to 1990, c…
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FILE PHOTO: Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo push constitutional reforms to extend presidential terms and postpone elections until 2028. REUTERS/Oswaldo RivasDaniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are pushing constitutional reforms that would extend presidential terms, postpone the next elections until late 2028, and exclude the opposition, in a scenario where the regime has spent 19 years concentrating power and restricting electoral avenues in Nicaragua. The pressure on the democratic system intensified after Ortega declared in July that there would be no "more elections" in the country. On September 1, the Sandinista-controlled National Assembly unanimously approved a package of constitutional changes drafted in secret. The changes came less than two years after Parliament approved a new Constitution in January 2025. That law allowed Ortega and Murillo, his wife, to govern as "co-presidents" and subordinated the Legislative and Judicial branches to the Executive.
"After 19 years in power, their top leaders have crushed the independence of government institutions, seized control of the economy, closed the civic space in the country, and persecuted dissidents abroad," said Jessica Ludwig, a global policy researcher at the Bush Institute. The reform approved in 2025 enshrined Ortega and Murillo as co-presidents and subordinated the state branches to the Executive. REUTERS/Fausto TorrealbaOrtega participated as a guerrilla leader in the overthrow of the Somoza family dictatorship by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in 1979. He was president from 1984 to 1990, when he lost the elections, and returned to office after winning the 2007 elections. Since that return, the government has modified democratic institutions and resorted to repression to hold onto power. The offensive against peaceful protesters that began in April 2018 led to a new phase of political persecution. More than 800,000 Nicaraguans have fled the repression since then, and many sought refuge in Costa Rica, Spain, and the United States. Hundreds of them arbitrarily lost their passports, property, and citizenship while outside the country, leaving them stateless. The repression worsened again in 2021, before and after the national elections. Dozens of opposition candidates were imprisoned and the electoral conditions were manipulated to ensure a Sandinista victory. The Executive also canceled the legal status and confiscated the assets of more than 5,000 nonprofit organizations. Among the affected entities were churches, religious groups, universities, educational centers, and international humanitarian organizations. Independent media were forced to close or move their operations out of Nicaragua. The country also imprisoned dozens of church leaders and clergy members, banned public religious processions, and restricted the entry of Bibles or other religious materials by foreign travelers, even for personal use. The Sandinista regime revoked the legal status and confiscated the property of more than 5,000 civil and religious organizations. EFE/Mario López.
The structure of political control extended beyond Nicaragua's borders through intimidation, surveillance, and violence against opposition figures, human rights defenders, and exiled journalists. That transnational persecution reached people living in Central American countries, Europe, and the United States, and violated the sovereignty of the states where they were persecuted. Ludwig said the regime finances that structure through corruption and seeks to deepen its ties with the authoritarian governments of Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran. The isolation from the international community of democracies coincided with that rapprochement with countries seeking to expand their influence in the Western Hemisphere. For several years, Managua facilitated the irregular migration of people from various regions of the world toward the U.S. southern border. The government authorized charter flights and allowed travelers to pass through its airports without requiring visas or registration. The United States has sanctioned more than 80 individuals and entities for corruption and state violence, according to the Treasury Department. The State Department, for its part, has revoked visas or banned entry for more than 2,350 regime officials for human rights violations. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked the Organization of American States to adopt new measures against the Nicaraguan leadership following the latest constitutional reforms. The OAS agreed to convene the hemisphere's foreign ministers on October 2 to discuss the country's situation.