Ortega returns from disappearance and says 'there will be no more elections' in Nicaragua

"Forget it! There will be no more elections here so they can try to take over the government, take power," he said, in reference to what he calls "political parties created by the Yankees."

The strategy, he said, without going into details, will be to impose limits on political parties. To this end, he will work with the National Assembly, dominated by allies, "so that they build a wall, a blockade against the coup plotters, the traitors."

"The history of parties installed by the Yankees, installed by the Somoza regime, coming to power, is over. [...] No matter how much money the Yankees give, they won't get it," he said, in reference to the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle, defeated by the revolution in which he participated in 1979 before becoming an authoritarian leader himself.

In practice, the absence of elections would not be a big change. Voting fraud has been reported since 2008, and the last presidential election, in 2021, took place after all opponents with a chance of defeating Ortega were arrested. Currently, in fact, most of the regime's critics are not even in the country or have Nicaraguan nationality – a punishment for being considered "traitors to the country".

Even so, the declaration represents a new authoritarian escalation, bringing the country even closer to regimes without elections, such as Cuba or North Korea. The threat occurs at a time when Donald Trump's government increases its power of influence in Latin America.

The United States' latest measure against the Ortega regime was announced in early June: a visa restriction on more than a hundred Nicaraguan officials days after the death in custody of indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera. The activist has been imprisoned since September 2023.

"The United States stands with the Nicaraguan people who, like Rivera, aspire to see a free Nicaragua," said Marco Rubio, American Secretary of State, at the time.

In recent months, Ortega has seen dictator Nicolás Maduro detained after a US attack on Venezuela and Cuba strangled with a fuel blockade, but he has gone virtually unscathed by Trump, who appears to have other priorities in the region.

It is not yet clear whether Sunday's declaration can change this scenario. The promises that the dictator makes in his speeches usually guide the well-equipped National Assembly of Nicaragua – this was the case with the constitutional reform that gave his wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, the position of co-president.

The change, which came into force in 2025, also extended the presidential term from five to six years and determined that the two leaders would be responsible for supervising Legislative and Judiciary bodies, regional and municipal administrations, and control and inspection mechanisms (including those relating to elections), previously considered independent.

Giving the same power to both seems to be a way to keep Ortega's family in power. The 80-year-old dictator's consecutive periods of absence are often attributed to his fragile health - before this Sunday's appearance, he had been missing for 61 days, according to local press.

Read Also: US and Iran signal willingness to negotiate after attacks, and mediators propose truce