Ten die in Nicaragua armed clash

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/05/ten-die-nicaragua-armed-clash

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Ten people have died in a confrontation between police and an armed group in northern Nicaragua, with accounts of the incident varying from a grocery store robbery to a confrontation involving an armed group that wants to stop President Daniel Ortega, who is trying to bring in unlimited terms of office.

The national police said shooting broke out when officers came upon an armed band robbing a store in the town of Bocas de Ayapal in Jinotega state. Six gunmen and four officers died – two people were wounded.

But local officials contradicted the police version of the shootout in interviews with Nicaraguan television Channel 12. Janeth Sobalvarro, the mayor of nearby San Jose de Bocay, said it was not a robbery but a clash between police and the gunmen.

Many people in the northern province of Esteli, including Roman Catholic Bishop Juan Abelardo, have said the armed group was organising to fight the leftist government of President Daniel Ortega. "I think they are minimising the situation and making a mistake," Abelardo told Channel 12. "These are armed people and you have to meet their demands."

Police and Nicaraguan troops involved in Wednesday's clash described the armed band as common criminals. Ortega's government has not spoken about the group.

Such a mass killing is unusual in Nicaragua which has had one of the lowest crime rates in Central America since armed political conflicts in the 1980s.

The area of the shootout was a stronghold for the Contra rebels who fought the Ortega-led Sandinista movement in the 1980s. Sandinistas overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 and Ortega's new government withstood a concerted effort by the US-supported Contras to oust him.

Ortega was elected president in 1984 but was defeated after one term. Since returning to power in a 2007 election he has boosted his popularity and is seeking to remove an article in Nicaragua's constitution intended to ban consecutive presidential terms.

Ortega's critics say that he wants to become president for life and that his government has become authoritarian and opaque.

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