Loyalist lawmakers give green light to constitutional amendment as authoritarian president, 79, tightens grip

Nicaragua’s president Daniel Ortega and his wife are set to assume absolute power after loyalist lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment elevating her to the position of “co-president” and boosting the pair’s joint control over the state.

Under sanctions for human rights abuses, Ortega himself had proposed the change, which also increases the president’s control over the media and extends the presidential term from five to six years.