Ranking Member Shaheen, Senator Scott Statement on Daniel Ortega’s Announcement to End Elections in Nicaragua
WASHINGTON – Today, Rubio condemns Ortega statement on end to elections in Nicaragua US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday condemned a statement by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega that elections will not be held anymore in the Central American country. “Daniel Ortega’s declaration that under his family’s dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have abandoned even the pretense of popular consent. “The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections. The United States calls on the international community to join forces to demonstrate to the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship that it cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere”, Rubio said. U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rick Scott (R-FL) yesterday condemned the statement by Ortega.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the July 19 statement made by Nicaraguan authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega about suspending elections. Ortega’s decision follows a series of egregious and undemocratic moves to consolidate power and silence dissenting views. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of any democracy, and legitimate governments only operate with the consent of their people. In keeping with the United States’ commitment to democracy, we strongly support the Nicaraguan people’s right to choose their leaders and will work together, on a bipartisan basis, to use the legislative tools at our disposal to push back on the Ortega-Murillo regime’s dark, despotic vision for Nicaragua.”
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