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Nicaragua’s New Constitution Establishes a Single Family’s Absolute Power as of January 13

Juan Diego Barberena: It eliminates the principle of habeas corpus, legal security of property, and strips workers of their labor rights

Rosario Murillo y Daniel Ortega.

Presidential couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo arrive at a National Police event on December 16, 2024. // Photo: CCC

Carlos F. Chamorro

14 de enero 2025

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On Monday, January 13, a new Constitution took effect in Nicaragua, with a complete overhaul tailored to serve the interests of the presidential couple and the Ortega-Murillo family. It was formally approved by the Sandinista Front-controlled National Assembly, during the required second legislative session vote.

In the new Constitution, the branches of government are replaced by the Legislative, Judicial, Electoral, and regional and municipal oversight bodies. This change eliminates the democratic principle of autonomy and the separation of powers since these bodies are now controlled by the Presidency of the Republic. The principle of accountability also disappears, turning the Presidency into an absolute power, much like a family monarchy.

The presidency is now composed of two co-presidents, accommodating the executive office to the mechanisms of dynastic succession and power disputes between Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega. And although the new Constitution establishes that the co-presidents must be elected by popular vote and direct suffrage, starting January 13, Vice President Rosario Murillo will officially become Co-President.

The total constitutional reform modifies 148 of the 198 articles of the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, equivalent to 74.7% of the Magna Carta. It also eliminates another 37 constitutional articles, equivalent to 18.7%, meaning that a total of 93.4% of the constitutional text has been altered.


The reform extends the presidential term, as well as the mandate of the chief of the Police and the Army, from five to six years. The mandates of the head of the Nicaraguan Army, General Julio César Avilés, and the National Police First Commissioner Francisco Díaz have already been extended, consummating the merger of the military and police leadership with the political control of the Ortega-Murillo family.

Additionally, the new Constitution elevates political repression and the police state to constitutional rank. It also legalizes paramilitary forces, officializes religious persecution, annuls municipal and regional autonomy, and decrees the red and black flag of the FSLN as a national symbol.

The constitution that went into effect on January 13 legalizes kidnappings, forced disappearance of political prisoners, and the banishment of Nicaraguan citizens, and officializes the possibility of civil and political death of any citizen whom the dictatorship may consider a “traitor to the homeland”, leaving all citizens in a state of total legal defenselessness.

To analyze this new Constitution's impact on national life, we spoke with lawyer and political activist Juan Diego Barberena on the program Esta Semana, on January 12, 2025. 

The new Constitution that takes effect on January 13, 2025 makes the dictatorship official, along with the de facto exercise of unlimited power over the past five years. What will be the impact of the legalization of the dictatorship on Nicaraguan society? What substantive changes will there be in terms of people's civil liberties and rights?

There are huge implications regarding citizens' rights because we are facing a reform that not only dissolves the government in terms of constituted powers and turns them into bodies that are solely coordinated and directed by the Presidency, but the reform is also regressive in terms of fundamental rights.

In practical terms, it renders ineffective the entire catalog of fundamental rights that the Nicaraguan constitutional text had regarding civil liberties, workers' rights, family rights, the full exercise of human rights, children's rights, the right to mobilization, expression, and information. 

We are facing a constitution that establishes absolute power, solely in the hands of the family in power. It also deprives citizens of all their constitutional guarantees and rights. 

What you are saying is that citizens will now be in a state of total defenselessness. Well, they were already suffering total defenselessness, but now we will not even have any formal space to appeal and to represent our rights and defense.

Worse than that, within the Nicaraguan legal system, there are no longer any provisions where a citizen can formally seek protection because these provisions have been annulled by this constitutional reform, which is more than a partial reform. What we have is a total reform.

This reformed constitution states that the co-presidents shall be elected by popular vote, by popular suffrage. But when this Constitution goes into effect on January 13, Vice-President Rosario Murillo becomes co-president without being elected. Would this be the first violation of the new Constitution?

Beyond the fact that this reform changes the model of the presidency to a model of co-presidency with a longer period, the fact is that both Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo were elected, in theory, as president and vice-president, respectively, for a period of five years. This reform cannot for any reason, regardless of what it establishes –and even if there is no transitory provision– seek to self-proclaim them as co-presidents for a period of six years, when it's the citizens who “elect” those positions That's in quotation marks because it is clear that in 2021 there was no election in Nicaragua. Citizens cast their votes and elect candidates based on the position being elected, based on the candidates themselves, and based on the term for the relevant office. 

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The fact is that these two people were not elected as co-presidents and they weren't elected for a period of six years, regardless of what the constitutional reform that will be approved on January 13 by the FSLN-controlled Assembly says. Therefore, more than talking about a first violation of this new Constitution, we have to talk about the fact that regardless of what this reform establishes, there is no formal legal possibility for them to be co-presidents for a period of six years, when this does not derive from an electoral process that generates sufficient legitimacy.

The Constitution extends to six years the presidential term and also the terms of the head of the Army and the head of the Police, for which they have already been appointed. Julio César Avilés has already been appointed for another six years, and Francisco Díaz, for another six years, as Chief of Police. In other words, this new State is a sort of fusion between the ruling family and the military leadership.

That's exactly right: a military leadership and also a group of officials of the Sandinista Front and the government that act as the political elite to govern Nicaragua. Some do so directly and others carry out the orders of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. There is a fusion of exercise of vertical power, between military obedience and police obedience. The reform establishes that both the Army and the Police are obedient and non-deliberative institutions. What does this mean? That they obey the family in power. That is why the first act taken based on this reform has been the extension of Julio Avilés as head of the Army and Francisco Díaz as head of the Police. Below them are other people who are a kind of bottleneck where all the disagreement can now be manifested with this new prevailing system in Nicaragua.

The description of the Presidency in the Constitution provides no details about the roles of the co-president and co-presidentess, leaving people asking: How is this going to work now? Will Rosario Murillo have even more power than she already does? And what will Daniel Ortega’s role be as co-president?

This brings us into a realm of complete discretion, as defined by the Constitution. The Presidency now functions as a joint, matrimonial institution, where both supposedly represent the executive branch. This raises big questions about decision-making: Who decides how executive decrees are signed? How are decisions made within the Executive Power? But beyond these procedural concerns, the core issue is power. Right now, Rosario Murillo is positioned to act as the de facto President of the Republic while officially holding the title of co-president. This shift will have significant implications for the dictatorship’s internal structure, the state itself, and the Sandinista Front. It will be important to watch how internal dissent within the Sandinista Front, which we know exists, responds to this new dynamic. Similarly, how will certain military commanders react when Rosario Murillo issues orders under the authority she claims as co-president?

With this move, the Ortega-Murillo regime has addressed one issue: the legal framework for succession. It clarifies who will succeed Daniel Ortega in his absence and who will follow—likely their children, through appointments like the vice presidency. However, they have not solved the political challenge of ensuring the stability of a dynastic succession. While they’ve preemptively tackled the succession question, this move is more likely to bring significant costs and deepen contradictions within the regime.

In the Army, there is an institutional bottleneck with more than 20 generals blocking the military career paths and promotions of other professionals. In the case of the Police, it’s a bit different because it’s an institution under intervention. There is a police chief, but there are several leaders who answer to Rosario Murillo and take orders from El Carmen. We’ll have to see what implications this has within these institutions. What impact does the constitutional change have on the economy? How do property rights and legal security stand after these changes?

The constitutional provision establishing the grounds for losing nationality due to treason—if I’m not mistaken, outlined in Article 16 of the reform—effectively endorses confiscation, even though Article 44 technically remains unchanged. This is because, in the various special legal reforms addressing the issue of nationality loss, they establish confiscation as a consequence in addition to prison sentences. This represents a severe blow to legal security for people who might consider investing in Nicaragua. Consequently, Nicaragua has become a useless country for foreign investment, with major repercussions for the economy.

On the other hand, the Ortega-Murillo regime has applauded Chinese investments in Nicaragua, whose significance and future are unclear. However, they have annulled and reversed a series of rights for Nicaraguan workers, including the enforcement of two International Labor Organization (ILO) agreements—primarily Conventions 100 and 111.

The Constitution previously established that every citizen, every worker, had the right to a salary consistent with human dignity. This has been eliminated. Now, it means that people are entitled to any kind of salary, paving the way for starvation wages, nearly akin to slavery, under the framework of these Chinese investments. Labor rights have been stripped, leaving workers defenseless and on their knees. This reform is entirely regressive.

Another critical issue is the inclusion in this constitutional reform—though it was also enacted through the Special Law on the Nullity of Foreign Sanctions in Nicaragua—the obligation for banks to comply with it. This is dangerous because it could cause the national financial system to collapse, impacting the exchange of goods and services and banking financial intermediation.

What are the implications of this new Constitution for political life in the country, for the civic movement, and for the resistance initiatives that are trying to be promoted in Nicaragua, given that repression is now completely legalized by a Constitution that practically annuls the rights of the people to protest, to organize, to mobilize?

The intention is to configure a single-party regime. But also a regime with only one way to mobilize. This makes a transition to democracy complex. It doesn't make a political transition in Nicaragua impossible, but it does make it more complex. It forces the political opposition and civic movements in Nicaragua to have a clear position concerning the issue of these reforms. I have heard some people say, “Yes, but they were already doing this.” The fact that they were already doing it doesn't mean that making it official isn't extremely serious.

It also requires a more cohesive response from the opposition, not only calling on the Nicaraguan people but also to the officials within the armed forces structures who we know internally dissent from the dictatorship. We need a call for the rejection of this constitutional reform.

 This article was first published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated by our staff To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.

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Carlos F. Chamorro

Carlos F. Chamorro

Periodista nicaragüense, exiliado en Costa Rica. Fundador y director de Confidencial y Esta Semana. Miembro del Consejo Rector de la Fundación Gabo. Ha sido Knight Fellow en la Universidad de Stanford (1997-1998) y profesor visitante en la Maestría de Periodismo de la Universidad de Berkeley, California (1998-1999). En mayo 2009, obtuvo el Premio a la Libertad de Expresión en Iberoamérica, de Casa América Cataluña (España). En octubre de 2010 recibió el Premio Maria Moors Cabot de la Escuela de Periodismo de la Universidad de Columbia en Nueva York. En 2021 obtuvo el Premio Ortega y Gasset por su trayectoria periodística.

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