309 killed in 75 days of anti-govt protests

More than 300 protesters have been killed in Nicaragua since demonstrators took to the streets to protest the ruling government in April. After 75 days of protests, from April 19 to July 2, at least 309 demonstrators have been confirmed dead according to a report presented by the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH), Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa reported. More than 1,500 have been injured, the report said. Previous reports by rights groups have also said that hundreds have been arrested in the government’s brutal crackdown. ANPDH and other rights groups have accused the government of targeting protestors with “lethal force.” Reports have also circulated of paramilitary troops burning shops in the country and forcibly disappearing demonstrators. For its part, the government denies the claims and blames “common criminals,” Al Jazeera reported. The Nicaragua embassy in the US did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Protests in the Central American country initially began in April after the government announced cuts in retirees’ pensions and a related tax increase. The demonstrations came as a surprise to the government, which is led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife Vice President Rosario Murillo, as well as to outside observers. “When these demonstrations began, the government – apparently believing that a show of force would quell the demonstrators – unleashed police anti-riot squads, and pro-government youth groups,” Geoff Thale, vice president for programmes at the Washington Office on Latin America, explained. “But on this occasion, demonstrators, especially the students, resisted fiercely.” Students, labour unions, business groups, academics and intellectuals have joined the movement, calling out what they see as oppressive government policies. Thale said the protests have grown beyond the initial anger over pension cuts and tax increases. They have “tapped into much deeper frustration at more than a decade of Daniel Ortega’s rule, and his increasingly autocratic approach to governing,” he said. Even leading business organisation, the Superior Council of Private Enterprises (COSEP), which has traditionally been seen as close to Ortega, has turned on the leader, demanding early elections.Guardian News and Media/Managua