US urges isolating Nicaragua after Ortega vows to end elections

July 21 - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday called on the international community to isolate Nicaragua, after President Daniel Ortega vowed his government would cease to hold elections.

• Rubio said Ortega's declaration "lays bare their true authoritarian nature" and that Nicaragua cannot expect "business as usual" with other nations while rejecting democratic rule.

• Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo "have abandoned even the pretense of popular consent," Rubio added.

• The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, in a separate statement, urged "hemispheric partners" to join the U.S. "in working to ensure the Nicaraguan people may finally choose a future free from tyranny."

• Ortega made the pledge to end elections in a speech on Sunday, stressing this would block any U.S.-backed movements from taking power.

• "There won't be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power," Ortega said.

• Ortega, 80, has held power continuously since 2007; his wife was named co-president under constitutional reforms last year that also extended the presidential term to six years.

• In recent years, Ortega has squashed virtually all opposition in the Central American country, jailing dissenters and sending politicians into exile. REUTERS