Nicaragua protesters defy Ortega crackdown

Hundreds of protesters marched in Nicaragua's capital in defiance of an iron-fisted crackdown on dissent by President Daniel Ortega that includes a new law threatening them with up to 20 years in prison for "terrorism".

Yesterday's rally, for which police were absent, passed off peacefully, unlike in previous days and weeks when Ortega's police and paramilitary forces violently attacked student demonstrators in Managua and a nearby opposition stronghold city, Masaya, with live ammunition.

More than 280 people have been killed since April in the unrest shaking the small Central American nation of six million people.

"The people united will never be defeated," yelled the crowd. They reiterated widespread demands that Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, step down.

Many of those taking part hid their faces behind masks.

But they said they were still turning out despite a law passed last Monday that carries prison terms of 15 to 20 years for those found guilty of vaguely defined actions deemed to constitute "terrorism".

"This law doesn't matter to us," one 23-year-old protester who gave her name as Maria told AFP. "It's a risk, but as with every big insurrection there's a risk." She added: "The protests aren't going to stop. We will continue in the streets demanding freedom."
She vowed that arrested "coup-mongers" would face justice. "They have to pay for the destruction of so many lives."