IranPress/America: according to Reuters, Nicaragua’s National Police said in a statement that one person was killed in the “crossfire” between demonstrators, whom police characterized as “terrorists,” and families who were defending their homes from attacks by “violent groups.”
Local media reported at least six people were wounded.
Hundreds of protesters carrying Nicaragua’s blue and white flag massed in the eastern part of the capital in the morning after squads of police prevented the demonstrators from reaching the city center.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd, and armed supporters of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega opened fire on demonstrators, local media said.
Nicaragua has been in extreme disarray since April when students took to the streets in the capital, Managua, to protest the government's failure to handle forest fires in one of the country's most protected areas.
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Nicaragua protest: Ortega is facing severe crisis
About 300 people have been jailed since protests erupted in April, according to local human rights activists. More than 300 people were killed during those protests in crackdowns by Nicaraguan police and armed groups backing the government, human rights groups have said.
But, according to the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights, some 448 people have been killed since protests began, many are university students who have been a key force in the demonstrations.
The protests began after Ortega’s leftist government moved to reduce welfare benefits, but soon escalated into broader opposition against Ortega, who has been in office since 2007. He also held power in the 1980s during Nicaragua’s civil war.
The current violence is the worst since his Sandinista government battled U.S.-backed “Contra” rebels in the 1980s.
The country - already Central America's poorest - is suffering economic ruin from the crisis and thousands are fleeing to neighbouring Costa Rica to seek asylum.
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