🤨 Ecuador’s president and Nicaragua’s ... co-president?

The left fared much better than expected in Ecuador’s first round vote. Nicaragua turns into a family dynasty as Daniel Ortega crowns his wife Rosario Murillo “co-president.” And a special report from Syria

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Ignacio Portes & Lucas Berti
February 11, 2025 • Reading Time: 2 minutes

Hello, and welcome to the LatAm Report, your pulse on Latin America’s power plays and economics. If you have any questions about this newsletter, or topics you’d like to see covered in future issues, you can reach us at [email protected] 

Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua’s witchy co-president

Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega: husband and wife ... and Nicaragua’s co-presidents. Photo: Cesar Pérez/OAS

Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega: husband and wife ... and Nicaragua’s co-presidents. Photo: Cesar Pérez/OAS

Debates about the authoritarian left in Latin America tend to revolve around Cuba and Venezuela, with much less being said about Nicaragua. Yet the Central American nation has undergone a radical political transformation over the last decade, with President Daniel Ortega banning opposition politicians and critical media, and sending tens of thousands into exile.

Dynasty. Last week, Ortega took things one step further, ratifying an extensive constitutional reform that declares his wife, Rosario Murillo, “co-president” of the country — one of many changes that tighten his family’s grip on power and which foreign governments, the UN, and NGOs such as Human Rights Watch depict as a broader push for “unlimited control.” 

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