Nicaragua's President Ortega scraps competitive elections

Published Jul 23, 09:33 AM UTC

On July 19th, 2026, Nicaragua's 80-year-old President Daniel Ortega declared that opposition parties will 'never again' be able to seek power through competitive elections, effectively scrapping democratic elections and moving the country toward becoming a one-party state. Ortega, a former Marxist-Leninist guerrilla who ruled from 1979 to 1990 and was elected president in 2006, made the announcement despite the potential political risk of imitating Cuba amid Donald Trump's campaign against the island nation. The move makes Nicaragua only the second country in Latin America to renounce competitive elections, signaling a further consolidation of authoritarian rule.