Nicaragua death toll hits 100 as Ortega vows to stay
MANAGUA (AFP) — The death toll from weeks of violent unrest in Nicaragua rose to 100 on Thursday as embattled Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega rejected calls to step down and the Catholic Church, which has tried to mediate the conflict, refused to resume the dialogue.
At least 16 people were killed and 88 were injured on Wednesday and into the early hours of Thursday as pro-and anti-government supporters clashed in a number of cities, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) said Thursday in an updated toll.
It said this was one of the most violent days yet in a wave of protests that began on April 18 against Ortega and his ruling party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Over 900 have been injured.
The protests were initially triggered by now-aborted reforms to the nearbankrupt social security system. But the unrest quickly broadened into a rejection by many Nicaraguans of Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, who are seen as autocratic.
The government and opposition had agreed on Monday to resume peace talks mediated by the Catholic Church that stalled last week.
But the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference announced Thursday that it will not resume the dialogue as long as “the people continue to be repressed and killed” by “groups close to the government.”
The CENIDH said the latest killings occurred in the capital Managua and the cities of Esteli and Masaya, while incidents also took place in Leon.
“The aggressors were the repressive police and shock forces who report to Ortega and his wife,“according to the rights group.
“Massacre! Shots are being fired against peaceful demonstrators,” Managua’s auxiliary bishop Silvio Baez wrote on social media late Wednesday.
The head of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, on Thursday condemned the killings by “repressive forces and the armed forces,” and called on Ortega’s government to stop the violence.
The US State Department issued a statement condemning the “government’s violent response to peaceful Mother’s Day marches in Managua and other cities yesterday, including assaults on mothers mourning their children killed since protests began April 18.”
Ortega, meanwhile, denounced a “conspiracy” by the opposition aimed at “terrorizing” the people, referring to Wednesday’s unrest.