Nicaragua’s National Assembly passed the first vote on a constitutional reform backed by co-presidents Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo that bans opposition parties from participating in elections and extends presidential terms from six to seven years. The amendment would also lengthen the terms of co-presidents, other elected officials, and the heads of the army and police. Murillo said the reform will be ratified in a second vote beginning January 18, as Nicaraguan law requires constitutional changes to pass in two separate legislative sessions. The initiative has faced criticism from the United States and countries across the region. On Wednesday, Sept. 2, Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged international partners to immediately stop business as usual operations with Nicaragua’s government and said Washington remained committed to addressing human rights violations by the government. On July 19, Ortega said there would be no more elections to prevent the opposition from retaking the government, prompting criticism from several Central American countries, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile. The United States previously called for international isolation of Nicaragua’s government, while Panama withdrew its ambassador from Managua. A 2024 reform had already extended the presidential term from five to six years, made Murillo co-president and postponed elections scheduled for the end of this year until late 2027. Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla, began his fourth consecutive term in January 2022 after a controversial election the previous November. Nearing his 81st birthday, he is the longest-serving leader in the Americas after nearly two decades in power. Nicaragua has remained in a deep political crisis since April 2018, when government repression of anti-government protests killed more than 300 people, injured thousands and triggered a mass exodus.