Church says Nicaragua forces killed 2 protesters

Government forces in Nicaragua yesterday shot dead two young men at a protest site in a church, the clergy said, on the third day of nationwide demonstrations against President Daniel Ortega, a former revolutionary hero now accused of authoritarianism.
The latest victims bring to at least nine the toll in the Central American country since Thursday, when protesters intensified their opposition to the government after three months of unrest which have left around 274 people dead.
A caravan of protesters was to drive through flashpoint areas of the capital Managua yesterday, after a general strike on Friday and a peaceful procession by thousands there on Thursday.
“They are telling us that we have two dead and several wounded,” Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes said upon reaching the besieged parish with Apostolic Nuncio Stanislaw Waldemar Sommertag.
After a night of gunfire and fear at the church compound, the religious leaders mediated the release of dozens of students, who were transported on buses toward the Managua Cathedral.
Waving Nicaraguan flags and with their fists raised, the freed students passed hundreds of supporters cheering on the road as motorists honked horns.
“Long live the students!” they shouted.
Church leaders reported about 20 people wounded, and Brenes said the government was “the only one responsible for these actions.”
The students had been entrenched at the parish since Friday and came under attack late that night following an assault on the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua next door.
“They want to kill us!” the young people shouted, calling for help and saying they were surrounded.
Their pleas came against the backdrop of gunfire around midnight, according to live broadcasts of local journalists trapped in the church.
Political tensions have soared since protests against a now-aborted pension reform began on April 18 and mushroomed into general opposition to Ortega and his government.
Brazil said yesterday it deplored attacks “perpetrated on July 13 by the security forces and paramilitaries against students and civilians” at the National Autonomous University.
Students have been holed up there since protests began, and a medic reported several injuries after pro-government forces opened fire.
“The escalation of violence against civil society, with physical aggression against the clergy, journalists and human rights defenders, is unacceptable,” Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Nicaraguan forces on Friday also attacked a neighbourhood in the opposition bastion of Masaya, killing two, as Ortega called for peace during a day of strikes.
He and his supporters began a procession from the capital to the opposition stronghold, 30km south.
One of the dead on Friday was a policeman, a local rights group representative told AFP.
The rally celebrated the June 1979 “retreat” that saw thousands of guerrillas withdraw from Managua to Masaya to regroup, before securing victory on July 19 when the dictator Anastasio Somoza fled Nicaragua.
On Friday, protesters erected barricades which delayed and limited Ortega’s procession.
Where Ortega was once hunkered down with allies in Masaya fighting against a dictatorship, the 72-year-old head of state now is the one despised in the rebel heartland.
In Masaya, Ortega accused the opposition of acting “with venom and hate,” and appealed for a return to “the road of peace.”
“The government is hardening more and more every day, speaking of peace with violence,” Vilma Nunez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), told AFP.
Banks, markets, gas stations, schools and shops kept their doors locked among deserted streets during the 24-hour general strike on Friday.
The strike was called by the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy grouping.
It came after four police officers and a protester died on Thursday as clashes erupted between opposition activists and government forces and their paramilitary allies in the southeast town of Morrito.
On Friday, police arrested opposition leader Medardo Mairena, accusing him of being a “terrorist” who organised and ordered the “attack” against the murdered police and protester.
The opposition Civic Alliance denounced Mairena’s detention as an “act of intimidation.”
The opposition is demanding either early elections or the resignation of Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, accusing both of corruption, despotism and nepotism.