Nicaragua says it will withdraw from Central American Parliament

The country’s crackdown on human rights has left it increasingly isolated in Latin America.

President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, lead a rally in Managua, Nicaragua, on September 5, 2018 [Alfredo Zuniga/AP Photo]

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.

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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.

The report also detailed inconsistencies in the government’s account of in-custody deaths, including that of Indigenous Miskito leader Brooklyn Rivera.

A critic of the Ortega government, Rivera was detained for 32 months with minimal contact with his family before dying in May.

The government blamed his death on the effects of a previous case of COVID-19, an assessment the Physicians for Human Rights group called “not medically coherent”.

“A State that resorts to enforced disappearance and allows persons to die in its custody falls short of the minimum human rights standards required for credible democratic governance,” said Jan-Michael Simon, the group’s chair.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has also been vocal in denouncing the Nicaraguan government’s abuses, including Rivera’s death.

In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio published a statement calling Nicaragua’s government a “dictatorship” after it announced it would abolish the country’s upcoming elections.

He also framed the Ortega-Murillo government as a threat to US national security. “Ortega’s pledge to abolish elections in Nicaragua proves his cowardice and fear of the Nicaraguan people’s will,” Rubio wrote.

But the Trump administration has come under criticism for seeking to deport Nicaraguan citizens who were expelled under Ortega’s leadership.

Human Rights Watch recently warned that the Trump administration had detained eight Nicaraguan nationals for deportation, seven of whom were among 222 political prisoners flown into exile in the US in February 2023, during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Nicaragua subsequently stripped them of their citizenship and branded them as “traitors” to the country. The Ortega government also seized any property they had in the country.

Human Rights Watch urged the Trump administration not to deport the eight detainees, warning that they could face abuse if they were returned to Nicaragua. Four of the detainees reportedly have pending asylum cases.

“After offering refuge to these critics of the Nicaraguan government just three years ago, the United States is now detaining and threatening to deport them,” Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“International law prohibits the United States from returning anyone to face the threat of persecution or torture. US authorities should not be trying to send these men back into danger.”

该国对人权的镇压使其在拉丁美洲日益孤立。

2018年9月5日，尼加拉瓜总统丹尼尔·奥尔特加和他的妻子、副总统罗萨里奥·穆里略在马那瓜领导了一场集会。[阿尔弗雷多·祖尼加/美联社照片]

尼加拉瓜政府宣布将退出中美洲议会（一个重要的区域机构），总统丹尼尔·奥尔特加及其妻子兼联合总统罗萨里奥·穆里略正在巩固权力。

外交部周六宣布，将退出由六个国家组成的议会，该议会旨在帮助促进中美洲的人权和民主。

三个国际机构投票决定就尼加拉瓜问题召开紧急会议（列表 1/3）。

美国表示将利用区域机构孤立尼加拉瓜（名单共3份，此为第2份）。

列表 3/3：为什么尼加拉瓜就加沙种族灭绝事件将德国告上国际法院？

此前不久，美洲国家组织（OAS）于周五通过了一项决议，呼吁尼加拉瓜恢复公民权利并释放政治犯。

然而，尼加拉瓜政府表示，周六的行动是“完全行使主权”。

政府表示，该决定将立即生效，这是该国退出一系列区域和国际组织的最新举措。

奥尔特加-穆里略政府指责这些国际组织是外部干预的工具。

尼加拉瓜因人权记录受到批评，于 2023 年退出美洲国家组织，并于 2025 年退出联合国人权理事会（难民署）。在奥尔特加执政期间，尼加拉瓜的人权记录不断恶化。

奥尔特加被指控利用国家机器打压批评者和异见人士，包括监禁、酷刑和流放。

联合国9月份发布的一份报告发现，自2018年奥尔特加开始严厉镇压抗议和异议以来，政府至少对8名被拘留者死亡负有责任。

该报告还详细列举了政府对羁押期间死亡事件的描述中的不一致之处，其中包括原住民米斯基托族领袖布鲁克林·里维拉的死亡事件。

里维拉是奥尔特加政府的批评者，他被拘留了 32 个月，期间与家人几乎没有联系，于 5 月去世。

政府将他的死因归咎于之前感染新冠病毒的影响，人权医生组织称这种说法“在医学上站不住脚”。

“一个诉诸强迫失踪并允许人们在其拘留期间死亡的国家，达不到可信的民主治理所需的最低人权标准，”该组织主席扬-迈克尔·西蒙说。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府也公开谴责尼加拉瓜政府的暴行，包括里维拉之死。

7 月，美国国务卿马可·卢比奥发表声明，称尼加拉瓜政府为“独裁政权”，此前该政府宣布将取消该国即将举行的选举。

他还把奥尔特加-穆里略政府描绘成对美国国家安全的威胁。“奥尔特加扬言要废除尼加拉瓜的选举，这证明了他的懦弱和对尼加拉瓜人民意志的恐惧，”鲁比奥写道。

但特朗普政府因试图驱逐在奥尔特加领导下被驱逐的尼加拉瓜公民而受到批评。

人权观察组织最近警告说，特朗普政府拘留了八名尼加拉瓜国民，准备将其驱逐出境，其中七人是2023年2月在前总统乔·拜登执政期间被空运到美国的222名政治犯之一。

尼加拉瓜随后剥夺了他们的公民身份，并将他们定性为国家“叛徒”。奥尔特加政府还没收了他们在尼加拉瓜的所有财产。

人权观察组织敦促特朗普政府不要遣返这八名被拘留者，并警告说，如果他们被遣返回尼加拉瓜，可能会面临虐待。据报道，其中四名被拘留者正在申请庇护。

“就在三年前，美国还为这些尼加拉瓜政府的批评者提供庇护，现在却拘留他们并威胁要将他们驱逐出境，”人权观察组织美洲区主任胡安妮塔·戈伯图斯在一份声明中说。

“国际法禁止美国将任何人遣返回国，使其面临迫害或酷刑的威胁。美国当局不应试图将这些人送回危险之地。”