Nicaragua's regime has openly renounced democracy, opposition warns

Nicaragua's opposition movement Renacer has warned that the government led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has openly abandoned democracy. The group, operating from exile, stated that the regime is no longer pretending to have political competition and has publicly confirmed it rules by force, not by the consent of the governed.

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The regime stops pretending that political competition exists and publicly confirms that for years it has not governed by the consent of the citizens, but by force.

President Ortega declared during the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution that Nicaragua "will not have elections again for them (the opposition) to try to seize the government, seize power." Ortega, an 80-year-old former Sandinista guerrilla, has governed Nicaragua since 2007 amidst allegations of electoral fraud and the elimination of opposition candidates. His wife, Rosario Murillo, who was vice president, has been designated co-president from February 2025 through a constitutional reform.

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There will not be elections here again for them (the opposition) to try to seize the Government, seize power.

Renacer views the closure of the electoral path as the culmination of an absolute concentration of power. They point to constitutional reforms in 2025 that eliminated institutional checks and balances, extended the presidential term, established a co-presidency, and subordinated the state to a single family structure.

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While he remains in power, the minimum conditions for an authentic democratic process do not exist. Without guarantees, without freedoms, without political competition and with the result decided in advance, elections cease to be a mechanism of popular sovereignty to become an instrument of legitimizing the dictatorship.

The opposition movement asserts that Ortega's statement signifies the Nicaraguan people have been stripped of their sovereign right to freely elect and replace their rulers. They argue that without guarantees, freedoms, political competition, and with predetermined outcomes, elections cease to be a mechanism of popular sovereignty and instead become an instrument for legitimizing a dictatorship. Renacer concludes that any hope for a transition must abandon illusions of relying solely on regime-controlled electoral processes, stating that Nicaragua's freedom will come from an organized people determined to reclaim their republic.

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Nicaragua's freedom will not be a concession from the regime, but the result of the determination of an organized people who will not give up reclaiming their Republic.