Fifteen people were killed and more than 200 injured Wednesday, one of the deadliest 24 hours of violence since a wave of protests against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega about a month and a half ago, police said on Thursday.
The bloodshed was condemned by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Archbishops of Nicaragua, which denounced an "organized and systematic attack" on anti-government protesters and canceled talks with the Ortega government, which are scheduled to resume on Thursday. mediator role.
Eyewitnesses said armed groups close to the government opened fire on protesters on Wednesday, Nicaragua Mother's Day. The targeted marches were held to pay tribute to the 80 dead since the beginning of the anti-government demonstrations.
"The number of people killed as a result of the actions of criminal groups operating wearing masks is 15," said the country's deputy police chief, Francisco Zeus, adding that seven people had been killed in the capital, Managua. Opposition groups called for a boycott of the rally in Leon and Masaya.
The military said it had provided medical care to many of the wounded, including several police officers.
The government has denied allegations by the opposition and human rights groups that the perpetrators of the attacks were its supporters and insisted that it was not responsible for the violence in the protests that began in April, initially due to the reform of the security system. from a few days.
The European Parliament on Thursday condemned what he called "barbaric repression" in Nicaragua and called for early elections, adding his own voice to those of the opposition, businessmen and others urging Ortega to speed up the election process. held in 2021 or 2022.
The government and the Organization of American States (OAS) meanwhile announced that the head of the election commission, Roberto Rivas, had resigned, a move that was interpreted as a sign that Ortega had made a retreat as international pressure escalated. In December, the United States imposed sanctions on Rivas, citing allegations that he had amassed vast personal fortunes, including private jets and yachts, and accusing him of electoral fraud.
Ortega, 72, was elected for a third consecutive term in the presidency in 2016 with more than 70% of the vote. Observers had questioned the reliability of the process.
In a letter to President Ortega, the COSEP business association also urged Daniel Ortega to speed up the 2021 election process and agree with the opposition and civil society organizations on the date of early elections.
"Given the magnitude of this crisis, we urge you to make every effort to find a peaceful solution before we are plunged into an even more tragic situation," the letter said.
But Ortega told supporters in a letter from the business community that Nicaragua was "not privately owned," according to La Prensa. "Nicaragua belongs to all of us and we will stay here," he added.
Referring to the bloody demonstrations, Ortega denounced in a statement a "conspiracy" of the opposition in order to "terrorize" the population. "There are no strike groups or government paramilitaries," he said, denying allegations to the contrary.
He added that "we can not accept being blamed for these tragic and painful events which we did not cause and would never cause."
The former hero of the Sandinista revolution, which overthrew the dictatorship of Nicaragua in 1979, is facing an unprecedented wave of protests since April 18.