A fresh wave of violence claimed at least seven lives, including a baby, in Nicaragua as international criticism mounted against the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega over its response to the protests against his rule.
The clashes began on Friday evening, hours after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented a report saying that the Nicaraguan government has violated human rights during the protests, which started in mid-April and have been met by a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces and allied civilian groups.
Opposition and civic groups called off a march planned for Saturday afternoon to honor those killed in the latest clashes.
The organizers said they wanted to avoid further bloodshed.
Saturday was also Father’s Day in Nicaragua.
Protesters are calling for Ortega’s ouster and opposition groups want presidential elections to be moved up by two years to next year. Nicaragua has no term limits and Ortega has yet to respond to the demand for early elections.
The Roman Catholic Church is mediating talks between opposition groups and the government, and Nicaraguan bishops have called for discussions to resume today.
Pablo Abrao, executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, said on Twitter on Saturday that a technical team from the commission would meet with state authorities, members of civil society and religious leaders today.
Alvaro Leiva, director of the Nicaraguan Pro-Human Rights Association, told Nicaraguans to be on alert for further violence, saying that more than 215 people have died since the unrest began.
“There’s a savage repression, there are executions, deaths, persecutions, kidnappings and a high risk of further bloodshed,” Leiva said.
A one-year-old was among those killed on Saturday.
The Nicaraguan police said the boy was struck by a bullet fired by a delinquent trying to prevent authorities from clearing road barricades in the capital, Managua.
However, his mother told a local TV station that police shot her son.
Two men were also shot dead nearby, local media reported.
The National Autonomous University of Nicaragua also came under attack early on Saturday.
Two students were killed, more than a dozen were wounded and at least six were missing, said priest Raul Zamora, who helped secure a ceasefire.
Students took over the state university in Managua nearly two months ago.
Two people were killed in the city of Masaya, where bishops had negotiated a truce just days earlier, the Red Cross said.
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