Nicaragua says it will withdraw from Central American Parliament

Nicaragua's government has declared it will withdraw from the Central American Parliament, a regional body created to advance human rights and democratic governance among its six member states. The Foreign Ministry announced the exit on Saturday and said the decision was made "in the full exercise of its sovereignty," with the change taking effect immediately. The move is the latest in a string of departures by Managua from multilateral organizations criticized by the Ortega administration as instruments of foreign intervention. Nicaragua previously left the Organization of American States in 2023 and the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2025, according to the announcement. The announcement came days after the Organization of American States passed a resolution urging Nicaragua to restore civil rights and free political prisoners. The Ortega-Murillo government, led by President Daniel Ortega and his co-president and wife Rosario Murillo, has faced mounting accusations that it uses state power to repress critics — including alleged imprisonment, torture, exile and deaths in custody. A U.N. report cited in the source found at least eight deaths in custody since the 2018 crackdown on protests and dissent, and highlighted inconsistencies in official accounts of those deaths. Civil-society groups and international actors named in the report and the article have criticized the government's handling of detainees and the treatment of opposition figures, while some foreign governments have increased diplomatic pressure on Nicaragua over the situation.