Democrats and human rights defenders around the world are outraged that, on Friday 6 August, the regime of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has dissolved the main opposition party, Citizens for Freedom, and stripped its leader, Liberal International Vice President Kitty Monterrey, of her Nicaraguan citizenship.

These are the actions of a regime that has acted to criminalize democracy and a president who is struggling to contain the desire of the Nicaraguan people to live in freedom.

We are deeply concerned for the safety of those targeted by the Sandinista government and the victims of arbitrary arrests. There is no democracy without opposition and we urge politicians the world-over to focus their eyes on events in Nicaragua and to demand the release of an ever-growing list of political prisoners. We call on Daniel Ortega to revoke his decision to suspend the citizenship of Ms Monterrey, desist from further punitive actions against the political opponents and to release, immediately, those political opponents he has detained ahead of elections scheduled for November 2021.