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NICARAGUA-POLITICS-PROTESTS
Nicaragua protests leave one dead: police
MANAGUA, Aug 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A supporter of Nicaragua’s President
Daniel Ortega was shot to death in the northern city of Matagalpa as anti-
government protesters marched past the city hall, police said.
The incident Saturday came amid a wave of protests and counter-protests in
several Nicaraguan cities, including the capital Managua.
Police identified the gunshot victim in Matagalpa as Lenin Mendiola, the
son of a longtime leader of the ruling Sandinista Front, according to a
police statement reported by local media.
Other media, however, reported that pro-government paramilitaries fired on
protesters in Matagalpa.
More than 300 people have been killed and 2,000 wounded since anti-
government protests erupted in mid-April, according to human rights groups.
The government puts the death toll at nearly 200.
Ortega, a 72-year-old former guerrilla who has held power for 22 of the
last 39 years, has responded with a bloody crackdown by security forces and
paramilitaries.
Managua was the scene Saturday of rival marches for and against Ortega and
his wife Rosario Murillo.
Tens of thousands of people demanding the release of jailed protesters
joined the march against Ortega, who is in his third term as president since
returning to power in 2007.
Supporters of the Ortegas, meanwhile, marched along a separate route under
a sea of red-and-black Sandinista banners, chanting for retribution against
their opponents.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:03 hrs