The country’s crackdown on human rights has left it increasingly isolated in Latin America.
Published On 4 Oct 2026
The government of Nicaragua has announced that it will withdraw from the Central American Parliament, a key regional body, as President Daniel Ortega and his co‑president and wife, Rosario Murillo, consolidate power.
Nicaragua’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that it would leave the six‑nation parliament, created to promote human rights and democracy in Central America.
The announcement follows Friday’s adoption by the Organization of American States (OAS) of a resolution urging Nicaragua to restore civil rights and free political prisoners.
The Nicaraguan government said the move was an exercise of its full sovereignty.
The government said the decision would take effect immediately, marking the latest in a series of withdrawals from regional and international organizations.
The Ortega‑Murillo administration accuses international bodies of serving as tools for external interference.
Nicaragua withdrew from the OAS in 2023 and from the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2025, citing criticism of its human‑rights record, which has worsened under Ortega’s rule.
Ortega has been accused of using the state to target critics and dissidents, employing imprisonment, torture, and exile.
A United Nations report released in September found that the government was responsible for at least eight deaths in custody since 2018, when Ortega launched a severe crackdown on protests and dissent.
The report also highlighted inconsistencies in the government’s account of in‑custody deaths, including that of Indigenous Miskito leader Brooklyn Rivera.
Rivera, a critic of the Ortega government, was detained for 32 months with limited family contact before dying in May.
The government attributed his death to complications from a prior COVID‑19 infection, a claim rejected by Physicians for Human Rights as “not medically coherent.”
“A State that engages in enforced disappearance and permits deaths in custody falls short of the minimum human‑rights standards required for credible democratic governance,” said Jan‑Michael Simon, the group’s chair.
The Donald Trump administration has also been vocal in condemning the Nicaraguan government’s abuses, including Rivera’s death.
In July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement labeling Nicaragua’s government a “dictatorship” after it announced plans to abolish upcoming elections.
He also portrayed the Ortega‑Murillo government as a national‑security threat, writing that Ortega’s pledge to abolish elections demonstrates his cowardice and fear of the Nicaraguan people’s will.
However, the Trump administration has faced criticism for attempting to deport Nicaraguan citizens who were expelled under Ortega’s leadership.
Human Rights Watch recently warned that the United States had detained eight Nicaraguans, seven of whom were among the 222 political prisoners flown into exile in February 2023.
They were later stripped of citizenship and labeled “traitors” by the Ortega government, which also confiscated any property they owned in the country.
Human Rights Watch urged the Trump administration not to deport the eight detainees, warning they could face abuse if returned to Nicaragua, and noted that four have pending asylum cases.
“After offering refuge to these critics just three years ago, the United States is now detaining and threatening to deport them,” said Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas program at Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
“International law prohibits the United States from returning anyone to face persecution or torture. US authorities should not be trying to send these men back into danger.”