GNV News — November 27, 2024

On November 22, 2024, Nicaragua’s National Assembly unanimously approved a proposed constitutional amendment strengthening the powers of the presidential couple. Under this amendment, the term of current President Daniel Ortega would be extended from five to six years, and his wife, current Vice President Rosario Murillo, would be elevated to co-president. The amendment would also further curtail people’s rights. For example, by designating government critics as “traitors to the homeland,” the government would be able to strip them of Nicaraguan citizenship. Although this measure has already been applied to hundreds of people, it would now be explicitly enshrined in the constitution. Control over the media would also be tightened, eliminating the requirement that the government prove “foreign interests” in order to impose restrictions on news outlets. For the amendment to take effect, a second approval by the legislature in 2025 is required, but that outcome is widely seen as likely.

Since the mass protests in 2018 that left 300 people dead, Nicaragua’s authoritarian tendencies have intensified. The presidential couple has consolidated control over all areas of the state and has banned more than 5,000 civic groups and NGOs. The government is also advancing legal changes to further clamp down on speech and activities critical of the authorities.

Learn more about Latin American politics → “Challenges Facing Politics and Society in Latin America”

Learn more about Nicaragua’s renewable energy → “Nicaragua: A Paradise for Renewable Energy?”

Ortega (center) shakes hands with the secretary general of the Organization of American States (right), watched by Murillo (left), 2012 (Photo: OEA – OAS / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])