Nicaragua’s president extends rule, says country won’t be holding elections anytime soon

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega said his country will not be holding elections anytime soon, in a statement underscoring the strongman’s efforts to extend his nearly 20-year rule. It dashes hopes by the opposition that he might heed their demands for a democratic vote. The announcement effectively cancelled Nicaragua’s next elections, originally scheduled for November 2027. In January 2025 its government-controlled congress voted to extend the five-year presidential term by one year. Mr Ortega spoke at the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution that toppled the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and first brought him to power. He returned to the presidency in…