Nicaragua’s Ortega refuses protest demands to step down

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega insisted Monday he will serve out his term until 2021, defying protesters demanding his resignation in three months of unrest that have left nearly 300 people dead.

“Our electoral period ends with the elections of 2021, when we will have our next elections,” the former revolutionary leader told Fox News, adding that he would not countenance opposition demands for early elections.

“To move up the elections would create instability, insecurity and make things worse,” he said. The 72-year-old leader, who has ruled Nicaragua for 22 years since his Sandinista revolution toppled a US-backed dictator in 1979, declared that the deadly unrest rocking his country since April has ended.

“It’s been a week now that the turmoil has stopped. Matters are becoming more normal in the country,” he said.

He acknowledged that peaceful demonstrations for and against his government were ongoing.

The assertion that Nicaragua’s turmoil was over followed lethal offensives by police and pro-government paramilitaries against protest hubs earlier this month.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said Monday that 292 people have been killed in three months of protests and repression by police and paramilitaries using firearms, raising a previous toll.

The unrest began as a protest against a pension reform plan that has since been dropped. But that anger mushroomed into a broad campaign against Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, who are accused by critics of running a corrupt left-wing dictatorship.

The human rights group said authorities have arbitrarily arrested hundreds of people in a continuing crackdown on the opposition.

Many were seized on suspicion of taking part in marches against Ortega’s government, or providing aid to those agitating against the president, it added.