Nicaragua unrest mounts as talks resume
MANAGUA: The Nicaraguan government and opposition, which is demanding the resignation of President Daniel Ortega, resumed talks Monday aimed at ending two months of unrest that has left more than 200 people dead.
Nicaragua’s influential Catholic bishops, who are mediating the talks, said delegates from both sides were evaluating a proposal to organise new elections for March 2019 rather than at the end of 2021 as scheduled.
Meanwhile, shootings were reported in the northern departments of Leon and Managua, where armed men tore down barricades erected by residents.
“There were very strong detonations. This is really a mistake, repression is useless, we call on the authorities to stop it, we do not want more deaths,” said local priest Victor Morales by phone from Leon.
A police officer was killed Monday while dismantling barricades in Nagarote, a town 40 kilometres northwest of the capital, police said.
They said the officer was killed when government forces ‘ were assaulted by criminal groups with weapons and mortars’.
Nagarote was turned into a ghost- town after riot police and pro- government paramilitaries moved into the town in numbers early Monday to dislodge protesters and tear down barricades.
Shops and offices remained shut and people were sheltering in their homes, AFP reporters said.
Talks between the government and the opposition Civic Alliance were suspended a week ago when the government failed to allow international human rights bodies to investigate the violence that has rocked the country. It eventually did so on Wednesday.
“We need a road map, a point of reference,” said Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, the archbishop of Managua, who is helping with the talks. “On the question of democratisation, if we are talking about elections... the president must let us know if he agrees,” he said. — AFP