U.S. authorities have condemned President Daniel Ortega’s declaration banning elections in Nicaragua.

In a statement on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged the international community to rise against Mr Ortega’s dictatorship.

“Daniel Ortega’s declaration that under his family’s dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature,” Mr Rubio said.

“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,” he added.

Mr Rubio stated that “Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have abandoned even the pretence of popular consent.

“The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections,” he said.

Mr Ortega, who has been in power since 2007 and has his wife, Rosario Murillo, as co-president, said in a speech at an event commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution on Sunday that there will be no more elections in Nicaragua.

Sunday’s ban on elections by Mr Ortega comes as another move to maintain a firm grip on power.

In 2018, Mr Ortega faced criticism from both the local and international community after over 300 people were killed during anti-government protests.

During Nicaragua’s election in 2021, Mr Ortega’s government was accused of crushing and illegally detaining opposition members to remain in power.

Mr Ortega’s presidential term was extended to six years, and his spouse was named as co-president in 2025.