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The National Police of Nicaragua will go from having one police chief to two, following yet another reform to the Political Constitution that was approved on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, in a first legislative vote in the National Assembly.
The reform, sent with urgency by the “co-presidents” Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, only modifies item 10 of Article 125 of the Constitution, which refers to the powers of the Presidency of the Republic.
The amended article reads as follows: “It is among the powers of the Presidency of the Republic… To appoint two Chiefs of the Police Forces of the Republic of Nicaragua from among the members of the National Command; the Deputy Directors General and the Inspector General.”
That same article also states that the Presidency of the Republic is responsible for “granting the ranks of First Commissioner and General Commissioners, as well as appointing the General Commissioner of the Ministry of the Interior, all in accordance with the relevant law.”
At the same time as the constitutional reform, the regime instructed changes to Law 872, the Law on Organization, Functions, Career and Special Social Security Regime of the National Police, to incorporate the changes made to the Constitution, even though they have not yet been approved in a second vote.
“The Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua establishes that the Presidency of the Republic, in its capacity as supreme head of the National Police, appoints two chiefs of the police forces of the Republic of Nicaragua to serve for a set term,” Ortega and Murillo state in the explanatory memorandum.
With the reform to the National Police Law, articles 11 and 47 are modified, which define the functions of the National Police Command.
Article 11, as amended, states that “the national command is exercised by the chiefs of the police forces of the Republic of Nicaragua, who administer and exercise the sole command of the institution, in accordance with the provisions of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua, the present law and the internal regulations under the direction of the supreme command”. The mentions of subordinate directorates are deleted.
Short-Term Appointments
The amended Article 47 establishes that the National Police chiefs will be appointed on December 26 of the corresponding year, with the assumption of office taking place on February 26 of the following year.
However, Ortega and Murillo included a transitional article stating that “the Presidency of the Republic, in its capacity as supreme head of the National Police, shall appoint the vacant position of Chief of the Police Forces of the Republic of Nicaragua, created upon the entry into force of this law.”
A civilian security analyst assessed that with these changes to the Police command, the regime would be “strengthening the internal security system,” citing the “inability” of First Commissioner Francisco Díaz, who is also the father-in-law of one of Ortega and Murillo’s children.
“This move could respond to Paco (Francisco) Díaz’s inability, due to various health problems… They won’t remove him, but I think he will be relegated to administrative functions—he’ll sign checks and manage police delegations,” the analyst explained.
Meanwhile, the new co-director of the Police, who can be a man or a woman since the law does not establish any gender quota, would be in charge of the direct management of the institution’s functions.
In recent years, the regime has transformed the Police into “a mega-structure, a kind of state security apparatus that preserves the regime’s stability and addresses threats against it,” the analyst noted. This means they could “appoint a co-director with counterintelligence experience, which Paco Díaz does not have,” he added.
Previous Reforms
In a previous reform to the Police Law, approved in November 2024, the Ortega regime extended the term of the Police chief from five to six years. This position is currently held by Francisco Díaz, the father-in-law of one of Ortega and Murillo’s children and First Commissioner.
Once the term for which they were appointed expires, the Chiefs of the Police Forces may remain in office until their successors assume their positions.
In December 2023, the regime subordinated the Ministry of the Interior (Migob) and its general directorates to the National Police, while also harmonizing the rank hierarchy across the ministry’s four general directorates.
The so-called Law that establishes the Hierarchy of Grades in the General Directorates of the Ministry of the Interiorestablishes in its fourth article that “by operation of law, as of the entry into force of this Law, the Ministry of the Interior and all its General Directorates are an integral part of the National Police”.
Five months earlier, in July 2023, the regime amended Article 97 of the Political Constitution and the Police Law to fully subordinate the institution and punish desertions within its main repressive branch.
According to the July 2023 reform: “When an officer, without justified cause, disobeys the orders of their superiors, to the detriment of citizen security, they shall be sanctioned with a prison sentence of six months to two years.”
The same reform also established that desertion from the police force is punishable by imprisonment: “Police personnel who abandon service, which is considered desertion causing serious harm to citizen security, shall be sanctioned with a prison sentence of two to three years.”
