US urges partners to ‘stop business as usual’ with Nicaragua

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on international partners to cease engaging with Nicaragua, following the country's legislature voting to prohibit opposition parties from participating in elections. This move further solidifies the autocratic control exercised by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo.

Rubio expressed his concerns in a statement, stating that the Nicaraguan government recently rewrote the country's constitution to perpetuate their illegitimate rule and indefinitely prevent free and fair elections. The reforms were approved unanimously during a special outdoor session of the Central American nation's legislature and are set to be formally ratified the following year.

Ortega dismissed the US Secretary of State's remarks, labeling the United States the "enemy" of nations like Nicaragua, attributing it to the global military power's sense of entitlement to attack.

Under the new measures, opposition members involved in planning or carrying out a coup d'état would be barred from running for office, and the presidential term would be extended from six to seven years. The government attributes the violent suppression of mass protests in 2018 to attempts to overthrow Ortega, resulting in the exile of thousands of Nicaraguans, including opposition leaders, activists, journalists, intellectuals, and priests.

Ortega and Murillo, who assumed co-presidency in 2025 under a previous constitutional amendment, have since gained control over all government branches. Rubio emphasized that dictatorships disregarding citizens' unalienable rights should not receive the same economic or political advantages as countries committed to hemispheric peace and security. The US Secretary of State urged international partners to immediately halt their regular operations with this oppressive regime.