Washington criticizes Daniel Ortega after he announces Nicaragua will stop holding elections

Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned on Tuesday the statements made by Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, who ruled out any possibility of elections in his country that would allow the opposition to take power.

Ortega ruled in the 1980s and returned to the presidency in 2007. Since then, he has wielded power through measures that have sidelined his rivals.

"Daniel Ortega’s declaration that under his family’s dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature," Rubio said in a statement in which he called on the international community to "join forces" to show the "dictatorship that it cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere."

"The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections," Rubio added.

Nicaragua was scheduled to hold general elections in November, but a year and a half ago, a sweeping constitutional reform extended the presidential term from five to six years, meaning the elections should now take place in November 2027.

"Let them forget it—there will be no more elections here [in Nicaragua] for them to try to seize the government and seize power," Ortega declared on Sunday, referring to his opponents at an event marking the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, held in Managua.