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Pro-government supporters march in Nicaragua

Supporters of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega demonstrate in a march called "Victorious September, Heroes of Love Always", in Managua, on September 1, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Thousands of supporters of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega marched on the capital Managua on Saturday in defense of the government, as the Central American nation struggles with civil unrest that has killed hundreds.

After months of protest, the Central American country is suffering one of the worst political crises of its history. Proposed cuts to the pension system announced in the spring triggered months of protests against Ortega, a former guerrilla leader whom critics accuse of tampering with elections and seeking to install a "family dictatorship."

But his supporters, popularly known as Sandinistas, accuse the government's critics of being part of a foreign-backed coup to unseat Ortega and lambasting them as "terrorists."

Over 300 people have been killed and at least 2,000 injured in crackdowns by police and armed groups on protests that began in April. The protests soon escalated into broader opposition against Ortega.

Last week, Ortega's government ordered a team from the United Nations Commission for Human Rights to leave.

On Wednesday, the UN delegation released a report documenting human rights violations between April 18 and Aug. 18, including the disproportionate use of force and extrajudicial killings by the Nicaraguan police, disappearances, widespread arbitrary detentions and instances of torture and sexual violence in detention centers.

In a 33-page rebuttal on Wednesday, Nicaragua said the UN Human Rights Office report issued in Geneva had ignored that the real aim of the protests was violence aimed at overthrowing a democratically elected government.

(Source: Reuters)


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