Key facts
- Nicaragua is withdrawing from the Central American Parliament.
- The country denounced the 1987 treaty establishing the parliament.
- The withdrawal takes immediate effect.
- Nicaragua left the Organization of American States in 2023.
- Nicaragua plans to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council in 2025.
- Social protests in 2018 were suppressed by police, resulting in over 350 deaths.
Nicaragua announced its withdrawal from the Central American Parliament, a move that further isolates the nation on the international stage amid accusations of widespread human rights abuses. The country's foreign ministry stated on Saturday that it had decided to denounce the 1987 treaty establishing the six-country parliament, asserting its sovereignty. The decision takes immediate effect.
The withdrawal follows a resolution passed on Friday by the Organization of American States (OAS), which urged Nicaraguan authorities to release political prisoners and restore civil liberties. Nicaragua had previously left the OAS in 2023, characterizing the organization as a tool of U.S. interventionism.
In 2025, Nicaragua also intends to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council, citing a UN report that called for international action on the country's human rights violations. Nicaragua has been experiencing a political crisis since April 2018, when social protests were met with a police crackdown that resulted in over 350 deaths, 2,000 injuries, and thousands of detentions and exiles. The government, led by Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, announced last July that the country would cease holding elections. Ortega has maintained power since 2007, with an earlier presidential term in the 1980s.