Nicaragua’s government has announced 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.
The Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that it would exit the six-country parliament, established to help promote human rights and democracy in Central America.
The announcement comes shortly after Friday’s passage of a resolution at the Organization of American States (OAS), calling on Nicaragua to restore civil rights and release political prisoners.
The Nicaraguan government, however, said Saturday’s action was “in the full exercise of its sovereignty”.
The government said the decision would take effect immediately, the latest in a series of withdrawals from regional and international organisations the country has undertaken.
The Ortega-Murillo government has accused such international groups of being vehicles for outside intervention.
Nicaragua pulled out of the OAS in 2023 and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in 2025 over criticisms of the country’s human rights record, which has deteriorated during Ortega’s tenure.
Ortega has been accused of using the state to target critics and dissidents, including through imprisonment, torture and exile.
A UN report released in September found the government was responsible for at least eight deaths in custody since 2018, when Ortega began a sharp crackdown on protests and dissent. Credit: aljazeera.com
