Weaponizing citizenship: Silencing dissent in Nicaragua

Since 2023, Nicaragua's government has stripped the citizenship of more than three hundred perceived dissidents, using a constitutional reform passed the same day 222 political prisoners were deported to the United States. Co-President Daniel Ortega has framed the policy as a consequence of treason, arguing that betraying the homeland means forfeiting the right to belong to it. Global Voices situates the move within a wider pattern, noting Cambodia and Russia have advanced similar citizenship-stripping measures against dissidents in the past year. Amnesty International says the tactic fits a broader consolidation of authoritarian control in Nicaragua, including arbitrary detention and restrictions on free expression.

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