US EditionNicaragua's Controversial Citizenship Reform: Impact and Implications
- Nicaragua's National Assembly unanimously approved a constitutional amendment on May 16, 2025, eliminating dual citizenship by rewriting Articles 23 and 25.
- This reform, driven by Ortega and Murillo's administration, follows their history of revoking nationality from over 450 critics and consolidating state control.
- The amendment mandates that Nicaraguans who obtain a second nationality automatically lose their Nicaraguan citizenship, and individuals from other countries must give up their prior nationality to become Nicaraguan citizens, although nationals from Central American countries are exempt from this requirement.
- Legislature President Gustavo Porras indicated that foreigners applying for Nicaraguan citizenship must give up their previous nationality, with the exception of individuals from Central American countries, while Ortega and Murillo emphasized that citizens cannot hold allegiance to two nations simultaneously.
- The reform requires a second legislative approval in 2026 to take effect and could affect thousands of dual citizens, including government opponents and the diaspora abroad.
38 Articles
38 Articles
Nicaragua's Controversial Citizenship Reform: Impact and Implications
Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment to eliminate dual citizenship, impacting thousands, including government critics. This reform must be ratified in 2026, requiring dual legislative approval. Nicaraguans gaining another nationality will lose their original citizenship, while foreigners must renounce their previous nationality to obtain Nicaraguan citizenship.
Nicaragua approved on Friday a constitutional reform that eliminates dual nationality, so Nicaraguans who acquire another citizenship will lose it, the National Assembly said it made the changes at the request of co-chairs Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have imposed on Friday afternoon a reform of articles 23 and 25 of the Nicaraguan Constitution regarding the loss of nationality. The new law, in a new repressive turn against the population of Nicaragua, states that citizens who have obtained a second nationality automatically will lose Nicaraguan nationality. The decision, after its approval by the loyal Sandinista deputies, has plunged an entire country into …
“Whoever acquires another nationality and swears allegiance to a foreign state breaks the legal and moral link with Nicaragua. There can be no double fidelity: the homeland demands exclusive commitment,” Ortega and Murillo argued in the legal document that accompanied the constitutional reform.
San José, Costa Rica. Nicaragua approved on Friday a constitutional reform that eliminates dual nationality, so Nicaraguans who acquire another citizenship will lose it, the National Assembly reported that it made the changes at the request of co-chairs Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.The Sandinista government of husbands Ortega and Murillo have stripped hundreds of opponents and critics expelled from the country in recent years.The National A…
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