US urges isolating Nicaragua after Ortega vows to end elections

July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. ‌Secretary of ​State ​Marco Rubio on Tuesday called on the international community to isolate Nicaragua, after ‌President Daniel Ortega vowed his government would ⁠cease to hold elections.

• Rubio said Ortega's declaration "lays bare ‌their true authoritarian nature" ‌and that Nicaragua cannot expect "business as usual" with other nations while rejecting democratic rule.

• Ortega ​and his wife Rosario Murillo "have abandoned even the pretense of popular consent," Rubio added.

• ⁠The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, in a separate statement, urged "hemispheric ​partners" to join the U.S. "in working to ensure the Nicaraguan people may finally choose ​a future free from ‌tyranny."

• Ortega made the pledge to end elections in a speech on Sunday, ⁠stressing this would block any U.S.-backed movements from taking power.

• "There won't be any more elections here ⁠for them to try to seize the government and seize ​power," Ortega said.

• Ortega, 80, has held power continuously since 2007; his wife was named co-president under constitutional ‌reforms last year that also extended the presidential term to six years.

• In ‌recent years, Ortega has squashed virtually all ⁠opposition in the Central ‌American country, jailing ​dissenters and sending politicians into exile.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; editing by Stephen ‌Eisenhammer)

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