Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has been in power since 2007, has proposed extending the presidential term by another year. Because when you've already scrapped term limits and stretched the term from five to six years, what's one more? The government-controlled National Assembly is expected to approve the extension in September, because of course it is.

The proposal is part of a constitutional reform that also aims to bar opposition members deemed "traitors" or "coup plotters" from running for office. Because nothing says democracy like defining your critics as traitors.

Ortega, 80, has grown increasingly authoritarian over his 19-year reign, jailing opponents, sending them into exile, and stripping them of citizenship. In 2014, term limits were scrapped; in 2024, the term was extended to six years. The legislature also approved naming his wife, Rosario Murillo, as "co-president," paving the way for her to take over if Ortega, reportedly in frail health, is declared "permanently absent."

Presidential elections were last held in November 2021, a one-sided contest won by Ortega after a brutal crackdown. Rival candidates were detained, disqualified, or exiled; only little-known no-hopers were allowed to stand. UN human rights chief Volker Türk warns repression has deepened since, with the rule of law eroded and persecution escalating.

Few Nicaraguans dare speak out after more than 300 were killed in the 2018 crackdown on protests. Even exiles aren't safe: many have been stripped of citizenship, their homes seized and sold.