MIAMI — On Sunday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega marked the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista insurrection that overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979.

Ortega, 80, has been in power for three decades. First, he was in power for 11 years, from 1979 to 1990, and he reassumed the presidency in 2007.

“Forget about it! There will be no more elections here for them,” Ortega said in Spanish during a televised speech. He said this was to prevent the opposition from attempting “to seize the government, to seize power.”

The former guerrilla commander stood alongside his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, also known as his “co-president,” during a ceremony in Managua.

U.S. diplomats have condemned Ortega for repressing protesters, imprisoning candidates, persecuting Catholic clergy, and changing the constitution to weaken his opposition.

Earlier this year, human rights activists denounced the death of Brooklyn Rivera, a Nicaraguan lawmaker of the Indigenous Miskito people who was imprisoned in 2023 after fighting the ruling Sandinistas for decades on land rights.

Rivera, a political prisoner, founded Yatama, a political party that aimed to represent the rights of Afro-Nicaraguans from the Miskito, Mayangna, Rama, and Creole communities.

Related social media post

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.