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

WASHINGTON

This handout picture released by the official El 19 Digital news outlet shows Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega adjusting a soldier's cap during the celebration of the 47th anniversary of the Nicaraguan Army in Managua on September 2, 2026. (El 19 DIGITAL / AFP Photo)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged international partners on Sept. 2 to “stop business as usual” with Nicaragua after its legislature voted to ban opposition parties from elections, further cementing the autocratic rule of Daniel Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo.

“Yesterday, Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega’s captive National Assembly eroded the fiction of Nicaragua’s democracy, again rewriting the nation’s constitution to entrench their illegitimate dynasty and indefinitely deprive Nicaraguans of free and fair elections,” Rubio said in a statement.

The reforms were given unanimous approval on Sept. 1 during a special outdoor session of the Central American nation’s legislature and are set to be formally ratified next year.

Without referring to Rubio directly, Ortega said Sept. 2 night that the United States is the “enemy” of countries like Nicaragua.

“Simply because it is a global military power, it feels entitled to attack,” Ortega said during a gathering for the anniversary of the Nicaraguan army.

“To those who constantly threaten us, here you have a people and an army that will never be bought and never surrender,” he added.

Under the measures, any member of the opposition involved in planning or carrying out a coup d’etat would be banned from running for office.

The government describes mass 2018 protests, which were violently quelled, as attempts to overthrow Ortega.