On Friday, Nicaragua announced its decision to leave the International Organisation for Migration and the International Labour Organisation. This move is part of its broader withdrawal from multilateral organisations following criticism of its human rights record.

Rosario Murillo, who shares power with her husband, President Daniel Ortega, stated that the two organisations “do not fulfil the mission for which they were created.”

The 73-year-old further emphasised their strong and unwavering stance, saying, “We reiterate our irrevocable, firm position of repudiation of all insults, offences, falsehoods, aggressions, the double standard of colonialist politics that governs the actions” of these institutions.

The announcement follows a day after Ortega’s government declared its exit from the United Nations Human Rights Council, following allegations by UN-appointed experts of widespread repression in Nicaragua.

Previously, the government had also decided to withdraw from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in response to a report highlighting increasing hunger in the country.

Murillo criticised the ILO, stating that it had acted in a “politicised manner, lending itself to destabilisation and interventionist manoeuvers” while assessing complaints from employers and workers regarding labour rights violations. Meanwhile, the government accused the IOM of spreading “false, malicious and irresponsible information” about Nicaragua in its annual migration report.

At 79, Ortega has become more authoritarian, consolidating control over the state with Murillo's backing. Critics argue that their rule resembles a nepotistic dictatorship. Ortega initially served as president from 1985 to 1990 after his time as a guerrilla hero and returned back his power in 2007.

Since then, Nicaragua has imprisoned hundreds of individuals it considers opponents, whether real or perceived. Additionally, the government has closed over 5,000 non-governmental organisations since the mass protests of 2018, during which the United Nations estimates that more than 300 people lost their lives.