ZCZC
BFF-15
NICARAGUA-DEMONSTRATION-UNREST
Four police officers, one protester killed in Nicaragua protest
MANAGUA, July 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Four police officers and a protester
were killed Thursday in a confrontation in Nicaragua, where violent unrest
has left over 260 people dead in three months amid anti-government
demonstrations.
“Five people died in a confrontation in Morrito, of whom four were police
officers and one a protestor,” Vilma Nunez, president of the Nicaraguan
Center of Human Rights (CENIDH), told AFP.
According to initial information, the face-off took place where a march
passed near a police command in Morrito, in the Rio San Juan department in
southeastern Nicaragua, during a day of demonstrations in the crisis-stricken
country called by the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy.
Movement leader Francisca Ramirez, said the protesters — some of whom were
armed — were “attacked by agents and paramilitaries,” and responded with
gunfire.
The police have not yet offered their version of events, but have
previously accused “criminal gangs” of carrying out murders, robberies and
abductions.
Morrito, a town of 6,000 people, is home to many farmers who are armed to
protect their land. It is located 140 miles (230 kilometers) southwest of the
capital Managua, on the route of a proposed intercoastal canal opposed by
locals.
Protests erupted in Nicaragua on April 18, initially against now-scrapped
pension reform. However, they have since boiled over into demands for
President Daniel Ortega — a former left-wing guerrilla leader whose second
stint in office began in 2007 — to step down.
His detractors accuse him — and his wife Vice President Rosario Murillo —
of establishing a brutal dictatorship.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1034 hrs