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.
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