Uruguay Expresses Concern Over Ortega's Statements on Nicaragua Elections

The government of Uruguay has voiced concern regarding statements made by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who declared that elections "will not happen again" in his country. Uruguay's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement indicating that these remarks cast doubt on the continuation of national elections in Nicaragua.

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We reaffirm our position that the Nicaraguan people can exercise their sovereign right through free, pluralistic, and periodic elections in accordance with their constitutional norms and the principles guiding regional integration.

"We reaffirm our position that the Nicaraguan people can exercise their sovereign right through free, pluralistic, and periodic elections in accordance with their constitutional norms and the principles guiding regional integration," the Uruguayan statement concluded. The opposition National Party in Uruguay had previously condemned Ortega's comments, urging the government to publicly reject such "totalitarian attitudes and declarations that do not guarantee the freedom and free expression" of the Nicaraguan people.

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totalitarian attitudes and declarations that do not guarantee the freedom and free expression

The party described Ortega's statements as an "open disregard for the essential principles of representative democracy and the right of the Nicaraguan people to freely choose their rulers through periodic, free, fair, transparent, and pluralistic elections." Ortega's controversial remarks were made during the commemoration of the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution on July 19. He stated that Nicaragua "will not have elections again so that they (the opposition) try to capture the government, capture power."

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an open disregard for the essential principles of representative democracy and the right of the Nicaraguan people to freely choose their rulers through periodic, free, fair, transparent, and pluralistic elections.

Following Ortega's declaration, Gustavo Porras, the president of Nicaragua's National Assembly, suggested that elections would indeed take place, but under a revised constitutional framework. This new framework, he explained, would shield the elections from foreign interference and from "traitors to the homeland."

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will not have elections again so that they (the opposition) try to capture the government, capture power.