Daniel Ortega
54th & 58th President of Nicaragua
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January 30 2025 | The constitutional amendments officially became law after a second reading in the National Assembly, extending Ortega's presidential term and establishing his wife as co-president. |
January 30 2025 | Becomes co-president of Nicaragua alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. |
November 22 2024 | Proposed constitutional amendments passed first reading at the National Assembly, with a second reading scheduled for January 2025 |
November 20 2024 | Daniel Ortega unveiled constitutional amendment proposals to extend his presidential term from five to six years and declare his wife Rosario Murillo as copresident |
2022 | Resumed repression of the Catholic Church, imprisoning prelate Rolando José Álvarez Lagos. |
March 24 2022 | Ambassador Arturo McFields was dismissed after condemning the Ortega government and requesting the release of political prisoners. |
2021 | Re-elected as president, prompting US President Joe Biden to ban Ortega and his officials from entering the United States. |
2021 | Jails potential rival candidates including Cristiana Chamorro Barrios and former allies Dora María Téllez and Hugo Torres Jiménez during the general election. |
December 2021 | Nicaragua switched diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China. |
November 2021 | US President Joe Biden signed the RENACER Act, extending sanctions against Nicaragua and granting powers to exclude Nicaragua from CAFTA-DR and obstruct multilateral loans. |
November 7 2021 | Daniel Ortega won re-election as Nicaragua's president in a controversial election widely criticized as undemocratic, with most opposition candidates having been arrested or disqualified prior to the vote. |
August 2021 | Cancelled operating permits of six US and European NGOs and imprisoned potential rival candidates including Cristiana Chamorro Barrios. |
February 2021 | Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada approved economic sanctions against President Ortega and his government in response to the Crimea delegation visit. |
November 2020 | Ortega sent a delegation to the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea, which later prompted international diplomatic consequences. |
June 2020 | By mid-June, Ortega's government had refused to implement strict pandemic preventive measures, keeping public schools open, businesses operating, and continuing to hold festivals and cultural events. |
March 2020 | Ortega went out of public view for more than 40 days during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no explanation provided for his absence. |
March 14 2020 | Ortega's government organized a massive demonstration called 'Love in the Time of COVID-19', showing support for the government during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the global health crisis. |
2019 | Documentary film 'Exiliada' was released, focusing on Zoilamérica Narváez's sexual abuse allegations against Ortega. |
2019 | Human Rights Watch reports that Ortega has aggressively dismantled institutional checks on presidential power, effectively transforming Nicaragua's democratic system. |
August 2019 | In an interview, expressed support for Bernie Sanders potentially winning the US presidency, citing Sanders's visit to Nicaragua in 1985. |
July 2019 | Human Rights Watch calls on the United States to impose sanctions on Ortega and top Nicaraguan officials implicated in the protest crackdown. |
January 10 2019 | Attended the swearing-in ceremony of Nicolás Maduro for his second presidential term. |
December 3 2018 | By December 3, 22 people were dead and 565 imprisoned. Professionals involved in protests were forced into hiding, with human rights organization offices raided and observers expelled. |
June 2018 | Engaged in a violent oppression campaign against anti-Ortega protests, reported by Amnesty International and the OAS. |
May 30 2018 | The 'Mother's Day Massacre' occurs, where over 300,000 people marched to honor mothers of killed students. Despite a peaceful march, protesters were attacked, resulting in 16 deaths and 88 injuries, with police using sniper rifles and shooting into the crowd. |
April 2018 | Social security tax system decree precipitated significant national unrest, breaking Ortega's alliance with the business council COSEP and leading to economic disruption. |
April 2018 | Student protests begin over a nature reserve fire and proposed social security benefit cuts. Protests are met with violent suppression by state-sponsored Sandinista Youth, with police using tear gas, rubber bullets, and eventually live ammunition against unarmed protesters. |
2016 | Narváez renewed her sexual abuse allegations, stating that she had become an outcast in her family. |
2016 | Achieved significant increase in renewable electricity from 25% to 52% during his presidency between 2007 and 2016 |
2016 | Initially refused to sign the Paris Agreement, claiming it did not sufficiently address climate protection, but later changed his stance |
2016 | Rejected mining projects by Canadian group B2 Gold, citing potential environmental threats |
November 7 2016 | Supreme Electoral Council reported Ortega and Murillo won 72.4% of the vote in the presidential election, securing Ortega's third consecutive and fourth overall presidential term. |
August 2016 | Ortega chose his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his vice-presidential running mate for re-election. |
June 2016 | Nicaraguan Supreme Court ruled to oust Eduardo Montealegre, the leader of the main opposition party, effectively removing the opposition's ability to contest the national elections. |
2015 | Ortega administration attempted to gain complete control over online media, but failed due to opposition from civil society, political parties, and private organizations. |
January 2014 | The National Assembly, controlled by Ortega's FSLN party, approved constitutional amendments abolishing presidential term limits, allowing Ortega to run for unlimited five-year terms and granting him sole power to appoint military and police commanders. |
2011 | Daniel Ortega won the presidential election, securing another term as President of Nicaragua, continuing his political leadership. |
November 16 2011 | Ortega's presidential election victory was officially confirmed, defeating Fabio Gadea with 63% of the vote according to the Supreme Electoral Council. |
November 6 2011 | Daniel Ortega was re-elected president in an election where the Supreme Electoral Council blocked domestic and international poll observers from multiple polling stations. |
September 2010 | Urged the US Congress and Obama administration to allocate more resources to fight drug trafficking after a US report listed Nicaragua as a 'major' drug-trafficking centre. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Daniel Ortega, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.