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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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Ortega Partisans Attack Protesters in
Nicaragua
MANAGUA – Followers of Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega, leader of the official
Sandinista party, attacked dissident
Sandinistas who were protesting on the
one-year anniversary of nationwide municipal
elections they consider “fraudulent.”
The brawl took place outside the Supreme
Electoral Council, or CSE, located in front
of the central headquarters of the national
police in Managua.
The protesters sought refuge in police
headquarters, where the Ortega followers
pursued them with rocks and tubes for
shooting firecrackers, according to video
reports seen on television.
An Efe photographer witnessed Ortega
loyalists in an SUV throwing eggs at a
television news crew and a dissident who was
being interviewed.
The president’s followers, some with their
faces covered, threw rocks and firecrackers
at the police facilities and broke a glass
door.
Police chief Aminta Granera, who was at a
meeting with the National Council to analyze
the protests scheduled for Monday, went to
the scene of the incident and was met by
dissidents who denounced the aggression.
“Please speak, say what you’re thinking,
what you feel. They’re trampling on your
constitution, your country, your free
homeland that a lot of people died for,” a
young dissident shouted at Granera amid a
throng of reporters.
The dissident Sandinistas urged the police
chief to take action against the alleged
aggressors.
“Violence begets violence,” Granera said,
without mentioning any arrests or injuries
in Monday’s incident. She invited dissidents
to protest peacefully and said that
“nothing’s going to happen to them,” because
a squad of riot cops was to be sent for
their protection.
She acknowledged, however, that stopping
street violence between opposing groups is
“difficult.”
The chief recalled that four police were
beaten Sunday in a town northwest of Managua
when they got between groups of militant
Sandinistas and the opposition.
“We’re putting our bodies as a shield to
protect and defend them,” Granera said,
adding that the force will also be deployed
this Monday to ward off disturbances.
The official Sandinistas have announced
celebrations in the streets this Monday for
the victory in 105 out of 146 mayoralties
including Managua in the 2008 municipal
elections, described as fraudulent by the
opposition, who called the protests. EFE
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