DANIEL ORTEGA

The Vatican has closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country's government proposed suspending diplomatic relations.

Nicaragua ’s government says it has proposed suspending relations with the Vatican days after Pope Francis compared President Daniel Ortega’s administration to a communist or Nazi dictatorship amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in the country

Nicaragua ’s government says it has proposed suspending relations with the Vatican days after Pope Francis compared President Daniel Ortega’s administration to a communist or Nazi dictatorship amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in the country.

Nicaragua ’s government said Sunday it has proposed suspending relations with the Vatican days after Pope Francis reportedly compared President Daniel Ortega’s administration to a communist or Nazi dictatorship amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in the Central American country. Relations between the church and the Nicaraguan government have been deteriorating since 2018, when authorities violently repressed antigovernment protests. Ortega branded Catholic figures he saw as sympathetic to the opposition as “terrorists” who had backed efforts to overthrow him.

Dozens of priests, nuns, seminarians and church workers have fled Nicaragua in recent years, or been exiled by President Daniel Ortega’s government, which considers them a threat.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega has committed crimes against humanity, according to a United Nations human rights group. A report claims that Ortega executed 40 people.

A U.N. human rights groups said the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega executed at least 40 people and ordered hospitals not to treat demonstrators wounded in antigovernment protests

Remittances to Nicaraguans sent home last year surged 50%, a massive jump that analysts say is directly related to the thousands of Nicaraguans who emigrated to the U.S. in the past two years

Remittances to Nicaraguans sent home last year surged 50%, a massive jump that analysts say is directly related to the thousands of Nicaraguans who emigrated to the U.S. in the past two years.

Constant fear.

President Daniel Ortega intensifies his political crackdown, stripping 94 of the most prominent Nicaraguan writers, journalists and human rights activists of citizenship. They lose all their rights.

Nicaragua has cancelled the citizenship of 94 political opponents, including writers Sergio Ram�rez and Gioconda Belli

Nicaragua has cancelled the citizenship of 94 political opponents, including writers Sergio Ramírez and Gioconda Belli.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has sent 222 political leaders, priests, students, activists and other dissidents to the United States, whose release was long demanded by the international community.

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sadness and worry at the news that Roman Catholic Bishop Roland Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan government, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in the latest move against the Catholic Church and government opponents

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sadness and worry at the news that Roman Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan government, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in the latest move against the Catholic Church and government opponents.

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sadness and worry at the news that Bishop Rolando Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan government, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in the latest move against the Catholic Church and government opponents. Hours later in Nicaragua's capital, Cardenal Leopoldo Brenes said someone had asked him what they could do for Álvarez. “Pray, that is our strength,” Brenes told those gathered inside the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The surprise release of 222 prisoners offered rare joy for Nicaragua’s beleaguered opposition. It also allowed new glimpses into how repressive the country has become.

Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez refused to leave Nicaragua with other political prisoners released on Thursday.

United States sanctions and public criticism of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was building for months

Roman Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez, an outspoken critic of Nicaragua’s government, has been sentenced to 26 years in prison and stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship, the latest move by President Daniel Ortega against the Catholic church and his opponents.

60 Minutes reported on the story of the arrest and wrongful detention of two of Nicaraguan political prisoners in 2021.

On state television a judge said the government had decided to "deport" the prisoners, saying they had been declared traitors and can never again serve public office.

U.S. officials said dozens of political prisoners who had been jailed in Nicaragua are headed to Washington after a negotiated release.

A senior Biden administration official says 222 inmates considered by many as political prisoners of the government of President Daniel Ortega are on their way to Washington

President Joe Biden says he is happy 222 Nicaraguan prisoners sent to the U.S. have been released, but time will tell if the move signifies a real change in Nicaraguan policies.

Four Roman Catholic priests in Nicaragua have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for what human rights groups contend is part of the government's crackdown on protesters.

A Nicaraguan Roman Catholic bishop will stand trial on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information

A Nicaraguan Catholic bishop and outspoken critic of the country’s authoritarian regime was arrested and charged with 'trumped-up' crimes, but Pope Francis and the Vatican have been largely silent on the matter.

A Nicaraguan government media site says a court has ordered a Roman Catholic bishop to remain under house arrest on charges of “conspiracy” and “spreading false news.”

The Inter-American Human Rights Court has declared the government of Nicaragua in contempt of court for ignoring rulings on political prisoners

Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front has completed its political domination of the country by winning local elections decried as unfair in all 153 of the country’s municipalities

Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front has completed its political domination of the country by winning local elections decried as unfair in all 153 of the country’s municipalities.

It’s been an electoral campaign without rallies, demonstrations or even real opposition

It's been an electoral campaign without rallies, demonstrations or even real opposition.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says new sanctions imposed on his government by the United States this week will only serve to drive more migrants to the U.S. border

Biden's order and other steps announced Monday are perhaps the most aggressive attempt by the U.S. to hold the Ortega accountable for his continued attacks on human rights and democracy.

The Biden administration is ratcheting up pressure on President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian rule in Nicaragua, banning Americans from doing business in the nation’s gold industry, threatening trade restrictions and stripping the U.S. visas of some 500 government insiders.

Families of four well-known opposition figures jailed in Nicaragua fear for their relatives’ lives because of bad conditions at the infamous El Chipote prison

Our weekly roundup of new movies to watch from home.

A judge in Argentina has launched a criminal investigation into Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Mar�a Murillo to determine whether they are responsible for crimes against humanity

A judge in Argentina has launched a criminal investigation into Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario María Murillo to determine whether they are responsible for crimes against humanity.

Exiled Nicaraguan economist Javier Álvarez received terrible news this week: his wife, daughter and son-in-law, jailed three weeks ago by the government of President Daniel Ortega, had been formally charged with serious crimes back in Nicaragua

Exiled Nicaraguan economist Javier Álvarez received terrible news this week: his wife, daughter and son-in-law, jailed three weeks ago by the government of President Daniel Ortega, had been formally charged with serious crimes back in Nicaragua.

In the hours after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced he would seek re-election despite a constitutional ban, opinion quickly divided.

Pope Francis says the Vatican is in contact with the Nicaraguan government about its crackdown on the Catholic Church and hoped that “at the very least” nuns from Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity religious order would be allowed to return to the country.

A judge in Nicaragua has sentenced a Roman Catholic priest to 49 years in prison for the rape of a 14-year-old girl

Since the summer of 2021, when Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega locked up dozens of political opponents ahead of November’s presidential elections, Nicaraguans have been seeking asylum in Costa Rica at the highest levels since Nicaragua’s political crisis exploded in April 2018.

Pope Francis has expressed worry about the situation in Nicaragua following the detention of a Roman Catholic bishop and several priests.

President Daniel Ortega's government has moved systematically against voices of dissent, arresting many opposition leaders last year.

The government of Daniel Ortega is moving ever closer to silencing all opposition in the Central American country.

Nicaraguan police have raided the residence of a Roman Catholic bishop, detaining him and several other people holed up inside for two weeks.

Nicaragua’s government recently shuttered seven radio stations belonging to the Catholic Church

Nicaragua’s government recently shuttered seven radio stations belonging to the Catholic Church.

Hundreds of Nicaraguans have attended Mass under a heavy police presence after the government prohibited a religious procession in the capital amid tensions with the Roman Catholic Church

Nicaragua’s police are prohibiting a religious procession scheduled for Saturday in the capital, the latest sign of tensions between the government and the Roman Catholic Church

With virtually no independent journalists left inside and foreign reporters banned from entering, Nicaragua has become 'an information black hole.'

Nicaragua’s police say they have begun an investigation against a Roman Catholic bishop who has been an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega’s government

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s government has closed seven radio stations this week owned by the Roman Catholic church, as well as two other outlets serving the largely rural northern area with a history of opposition

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s government has closed seven radio stations this week owned by the Roman Catholic church, as well as two other outlets serving the largely rural northern area with a history of opposition.

Nicaraguan authorities have ordered the closures of six radio stations belonging to the Roman Catholic Church and surrounded one with riot police

One of Nicaragua’s leading national newspapers announced Thursday on its website that its staff had been forced to flee the country and would continue working from outside Nicaragua

The Nicaraguan government is now going after one of the few local newspapers that dared to report on its expulsion of the Missionaries of Charity, the order established by Mother Teresa

After ordering the expulsion of the Missionaries of Charity established by Mother Teresa, the Nicaraguan government has now gone after one of the few local newspapers that dared to report on the nuns being removed. Two drivers for the independent newspaper La Prensa have been jailed and police raided the homes of two reporters, according to an employee of the newspaper. The reporters had covered the expulsion on Thursday of 18 nuns of the Missionaries of Charity after the government of President Daniel Ortega had ordered the organization closed in late June.

The wife of Nicaraguan political activist Félix Maradiaga told journalists her husband had lost more than 65 pounds during his year in prison and she feared for his health

The wife of Nicaraguan political activist Félix Maradiaga told journalists her husband had lost more than 65 pounds during his year in prison and she feared for his health.

Nicaraguan riot police have taken over the city halls of five municipalities that had been in the hands of an opposition party, four months before scheduled municipal elections

Nicaraguan riot police have taken over the city halls of five municipalities that had been in the hands of an opposition party, four months before scheduled municipal elections.

The Nicaraguan government has closed an additional 101 civic and charity groups, including the local branch of the Missionaries of Charity established by Mother Teresa

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has had his political opponents beaten and thrown in jail and passed legislation making criticism of the government a form of treason. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the loss of democracy in Nicaragua.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Nicaragua’s state-owned gold mining company and the president of its board of directors partly over the Central American nation’s ties to Russia.

The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on 93 more Nicaraguan officials for their role in supporting the regime of President Daniel Ortega

A spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry called it a "routine — twice a year — procedure."

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has authorized Russian troops, planes and ships to deploy to Nicaragua for purposes of training, law enforcement or emergency response

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has authorized Russian troops, planes and ships to deploy to Nicaragua for purposes of training, law enforcement or emergency response.

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has authorized Russian troops, planes and ships to deploy to Nicaragua for purposes of training, law enforcement or emergency response. In a decree published this week, and confirmed by Russia on Thursday, Ortega will allow Russian troops to carry out law enforcement duties, “humanitarian aid, rescue and search missions in emergencies or natural disasters.” The Nicaraguan government also authorized the presence of small contingents of Russian troops for “exchange of experiences and training.”

Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled congress has cancelled nearly 200 nongovernmental organizations this week, ranging from a local equestrian group to the 94-year-old Nicaraguan Academy of Letters, in what critics say is President Daniel Ortega’s attempt to eliminate the country’s civil society.

A Roman Catholic bishop in Nicaragua has begun an “indefinite fast” inside a church to protest increasing harassment from national police, who he said followed him throughout the entire previous day.

Four years after university students led protests against Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s government, his administration is minimizing the chance of a reoccurrence by seizing a dozen private universities and closing them or shifting control to the state.

Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Organization of the American States says he had been feeling a “weight in his heart” for the last couple of weeks.

The Biden administration is considering trying to expel Nicaragua from a lucrative regional free trade pact to retaliate against President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on his opponents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro for talks in Moscow and hailed ties between the two countries, which he described as “friendship and mutual understanding.”.

Relatives in Nicaragua say that jailed former Sandinista guerrilla and opposition leader Hugo Torres has died at the age of 73.

Russia has been threatening to expand military ties with allies Venezuela and Cuba amid rising tensions with the U.S. over Ukraine.

The presence of a senior Iranian official at the investiture of Nicaragua’s president has angered Argentina, which alleges the official was involved in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega has been sworn in for a fourth consecutive term following elections considered rigged and on a day marked by sanctions from the United States and European Union against members of his government.

Nicaragua's decision to sever diplomatic links with Taiwan and recognize China leaves the self-governing island democracy with just 14 diplomatic allies.

Benjamín Villalta, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan, couldn’t believe that a Mexican immigration office would open in the middle of the night to give him and some 40 other migrants humanitarian visas that would allow them to move about Mexico and work.

The Nicaraguan government has dropped visa requirements for Cuban citizens, a move that may spark an increase in Cubans travelling there in a bid to reach the United States.

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega holds a commanding lead in preliminary results from Sunday’s election against a field of little known challengers.

A day after questioned elections, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government has set about painting as a historic democratic victory what many of the world’s democracies condemned as a sham.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term as voting begins in elections against a field of little-known candidates while those who could have given him a real challenge sit in jail.

Back in May, the chances of Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s reelection to a fourth consecutive term were looking good.

More than 2,000 mostly Central American migrants were walking along a highway in southern Mexico toward the town of Huixtla where security forces had deployed, possibly signaling that authorities would soon try to break up the group.

Writer and former Nicaraguan Vice President Sergio Ramírez says he will live in exile in Spain, after the government of President Daniel Ortega tried to arrest him and banned his latest book.

Libya is planning an international conference next month to try to keep its political process on track.

One-time Nicaragua presidential aspirant Cristiana Chamorro and one of her brothers were among five people formally charged with money laundering Thursday.

The United States has slapped visa restrictions on 50 immediate family members of Nicaraguan officials who have been involved in or benefited from President Daniel Ortega’s growing repression.

The European Union is slapping sanctions on Nicaraguan first lady and Vice-President Rosario Murillo and seven other senior officials accused of serious human rights violations or undermining democracy.

The Nicaraguan government has organized rallies and festivities to mark the anniversary of the July 19, 1979, revolution that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza.