Daniel Ortega’s regime to Costa Rica: “We will not accept interference from other countries”

Q COSTA RICA — After asserting that Nicaragua’s affairs are the exclusive domain of its citizens and government, the Daniel Ortega regime indicated to Costa Rica that it will not accept foreign interference. The neighboring country’s response comes after Costa Rica denounced a new attack against the opposition and democracy in Nicaragua. We demand relations that take into account, as they should, the essential characteristics of our republics.

(…) Friendly relations do not, in any way, allow us to interfere in matters that do not concern us, when they pertain to the right of each country to develop its sovereign institutional processes,” the Ortega regime stated. Q COSTA RICA — Despite President Laura Fernández’s clear statement in an interview that she preferred not to interfere in Nicaragua’s internal affairs, on Thursday, September 3, the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry issued a press release expressing its “deep concern about the democratic deterioration” in the neighboring country. “Costa Rica reiterates its call for respect for Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and the right of the Nicaraguan people to freely decide their future through electoral processes that guarantee pluralism and the conditions inherent to a genuine democracy,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

To denounce the situation, Costa Rica will support “a firm and coordinated response” within the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS) and at the upcoming Meeting of Foreign Ministers, convened to analyze this serious situation. The Foreign Ministry’s statement comes a day after the United States increased pressure against the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. also called on allied countries to adopt a firmer stance against Managua.

On September 2, the Nicaraguan National Assembly, held in absolute control by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) under the leadership of Ortega and Murillo, unanimously approved a constitutional reform, promoted by President Ortega, that prevents opposition members from running for public office; in addition, the constitutional change also extends the current presidential term from six to seven years. The change excludes from the elections those who participate in “coup plots,” “treason,” or who request foreign “military intervention.” Nicaragua was scheduled to hold elections in November 2026, but the changes extended the presidential term, and elections are now planned for November 2027.