MANAGUA, April 22 (Reuters) - Anti-government protests in Nicaragua entered a fifth day on Sunday as the death toll from the violence rose and looting was reported in some areas, aggravating the crisis around longstanding President Daniel Ortega.

The Red Cross said at least seven people had died and hundreds had been injured in the demonstrations, while a local human rights organization said it had registered 25 deaths.

The protests began on Wednesday over plans to increase worker contributions and lower pensions, and some stores in Managua were looted at the weekend, Reuters witnesses said. At least two protest marches were planned in Managua on Sunday.

Late on Saturday, local media said a reporter was shot and killed during a live broadcast from Bluefields, a town on the Caribbean coast hit by the unrest. Graphic footage of the incident soon spread onto local and social media.

Lissett Guido, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said there were seven confirmed deaths and that the number would likely rise. The government had reported "almost 10" by late on Friday.

Marlin Sierra, director of human rights organization CENIDH, said it had logged 25 deaths, mostly caused by firearms and rubber bullets. That number could not be independently verified. Most of the dead were aged between 15 and 34, she said.

The police crackdown on demonstrators and curbs on some media in the past few days have fueled broader criticism of Ortega, who has gradually tightened his hold on the country's institutions since he returned to power over 11 years ago.

Pope Francis called on Sunday for an end to the violence in Nicaragua and called for differences to be "resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility."

Nicaragua has been one of the more stable countries in Central America, largely avoiding the turmoil caused by gang violence or political upheaval that has at times plagued Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in recent years.

But top Nicaraguan business lobby COSEP has backed peaceful protests against the government, and said it would not enter talks with Ortega to review the social security plan until he had ended police repression and restored freedom of expression.

A former Marxist guerrilla and Cold War antagonist of the United States, Ortega has presided over a period of stable growth with a blend of socialist policies and capitalism.

But critics accuse Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, of trying to establish a family dictatorship. The country remains one of the poorest in the Americas.

Ortega was a driving force in the overthrow of one of Latin America's most notorious regimes when his Sandinistas ended the Somoza dynasty's long rule of the country in 1979.

He was elected president in 1984, but a civil war, which pitted the Sandinistas against U.S.-backed right wing Contra rebels, hurt his popularity, and he was voted out in 1990.

Not until a 2006 election did Ortega reclaim the presidency.

Now 72, he has maintained an uneasy relationship with the United States, toning down his Cold War rhetoric but forging close ties with U.S. adversaries such as the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro.</s>Days of clashes between protesters and security forces in Nicaragua have killed at least 24 people, a rights group said Sunday, as looting also gripped parts of the Central American country.

The unrest erupted Wednesday over pension reforms, with students a prominent group.

A robust response ordered by leftist President Daniel Ortega has seen the army deployed to the streets, independent media muzzled, journalists assaulted and pro-government demonstrators mobilized to counter the protests.

The European Union, the United States and the Vatican have expressed concern at the situation and called for calm.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights told AFP that at least 24 people were killed since Wednesday, according to a toll it has compiled.

The center’s director, Vilma Nunez, warned that there was “a lot of misinformation” going around that made obtaining the figure difficult.

On Friday, the government put the number of people killed in two days of protests at 10. No more recent official toll has yet been made available.

On Saturday, a local journalist, Miguel Angel Gahona, was shot dead by a bullet in the city of Bluefields, on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. Some local media reports said a police sniper was suspected to be responsible.

Looting was seen at stores in Managua. In some locations, armed store owners stood guard outside their premises to stop mobs from entering.

Parts of the capital were strewn with rubble, remnants of clashes between demonstrators and riot police.

A doctor treating those wounded in the clashes, Eyel Almanza, said in an interview that police officers were resorting to deadly force.

“The wounds suffered by students have been from firearms. Anti-riot police had been using rubber bullets, but not anymore — they are using marbles,” he said.

Soldiers armed with rifles stood guard at public offices in Managua, as well as in the northern city of Esteli. The army said it was “providing protection to entities and strategic sites.”

Nicabus, an international bus line with links to Costa Rica and Honduras, said it had suspended services due to the violence.

Protest groups announced a march to the Polytechnic University in the capital, where hundreds of students have been holed up since Thursday.

One male student who declined to give his name said the aim now was to see Ortega step down from office.

The protests are the biggest in the 11 years Ortega has been in power.

On Saturday, the president was rebuffed when he offered to speak to the private sector’s top business association about the pension reforms, which would see employee contributions increased and benefits reduced in a bid to tamp down on a climbing deficit.

The business association said there could be no dialogue unless Ortega’s government “immediately ceases police repression.”

Throughout the protests, journalists have reportedly faced attacks, been temporarily detained and had their equipment stolen.

Panicked residents in Managua and elsewhere emptied supermarket shelves and bought fuel to see through what could become a prolonged crisis.

“With this stoppage, it’s possible we could be left with nothing to eat,” said Ines Espinoza, a resident in the north of capital who walked out of a store with her two children, carrying bottles of water, biscuits and canned food.

The unexpected wave of violence in an otherwise relatively tightly controlled country has caused international alarm.

The United States denounced the “excessive force used by police and others” in Nicaragua.

A US State Department statement urged Ortega’s government to allow journalists to work freely and to engage in “a broad-based dialogue” to calm the chaos.

The European Union called the violence “unacceptable” and also demanded that news media be permitted to do their work.

“Protests need to be conducted peacefully, and public security forces must act with maximum restraint,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

Pope Francis, meanwhile, used his Sunday service in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to ask that the “pointless spilling of blood is avoided and the underlying issues be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility.”

Analysts and business leaders said the protests were fueled by dissatisfaction that went well beyond anger over pension reform.

“This has not been seen for years in Nicaragua,” said Carlos Tunnermann, a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the US.

“There is a malaise of the population not only over the reforms, but for the way in which the country has been run,” he added.</s>Dozens of shops in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua have been looted as protests sparked by government social security reforms continue.

Dozens of shops in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua have been looted as protests sparked by government social security reforms continue.

Images broadcast by local news media showed looted shops in the sprawling Oriental Market district and at least one Walmart. Police apparently did not intervene, in contrast to what had been a heavy-handed response to the demonstrations, in which dozens have been injured or arrested.

State-controlled media blamed protesters for the looting, while critics speculated that it was being allowed in order to pressure the business sector, which has set conditions for talks with the government, including an end to the harsh crackdown. Anti-government protesters pull down one of two metal tree sculptures that are emblematic of the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (Alfredo Zuniga/AP) “We are seeing social chaos in Nicaragua provoked by the absence of government leadership, and the crisis has been combined with poverty, and that in any society is a time bomb,” sociologist and analyst Cirilo Otero said.

“It is believable that the government is promoting (the looting) to put pressure on private enterprise to give in to dialogue even if the violence does not stop, and the cost could be very high,” he added. From the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was “very worried” about the situation in the Central American nation and joined local bishops in seeking an end to all violence.

The disturbances broke out in response to President Daniel Ortega’s effort to shore up the troubled social security system with a combination of reduced benefits and increased taxes. They appear to have expanded to include broader anti-government grievances.

Pope Francis has expressed his concern about strife in Nicaragua (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) Mr Ortega said on Saturday that he would agree to negotiate on the social security reforms so that there is “no more terror for Nicaraguan families”, but he said the talks would be only with business leaders.

He also seemed to try to justify the tough response by the government and allied groups, accusing demonstrators, most of them university students, of being manipulated by unspecified “minority” political interests and of being infiltrated by gangsters.

“What is happening in our country has no name. “The kids do not even know the party that is manipulating them. … Gang members are being brought into the kids’ protests and are criminalising the protests. That is why they are put at risk,” Mr Ortega said.

Those remarks appeared to fan the flames, as soon afterwards thousands of people spilled back into the streets in seven cities. On Saturday, journalist Angel Gahona was reporting live via Facebook on protests in the southeastern city of Bluefields when he was killed by a gunshot.

At least 25 other people have been killed since Wednesday according to the independent Nicaraguan Human Rights Centre, though the government had acknowledged only nine dead. “We are in the streets asking for Ortega and his wife to go. This has already gone beyond the social security issue. “Here there have been dead, wounded, and he does not even apologise for his killings or the savage repression against the people,” said Mauri Hernandez, one of thousands of demonstrators at a central rotunda.</s>'I express my solidarity with the country, and I join bishops in asking that the violence end, pointless spilling of blood is avoided and the underlying issues be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility,' Pope Francis says

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Sunday, April 22, called for an end to the violence which has engulfed Nicaragua following anti-government protests that have seen 11 killed, including a journalist.

The protests erupted in Nicaragua on Wednesday, April 18, over a proposed pension reform, with violent demonstrations rocking cities across the Central American country.

Francis called for a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

"I'm worried about what's been happening in the last few days in Nicaragua, where after a social protest there were battles that have caused deaths," the pontiff said during the Regina Coeli service at St Peter's Square on Sunday.

"I express my solidarity with the country, and I join bishops in asking that the violence end, pointless spilling of blood is avoided and the underlying issues be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility."

Nicaraguans have taken to the streets over a proposed change to the pension system that would see workers and employers pay more toward the retirement system.

The reform designed by Daniel Ortega's government is aimed at settling a $76 million deficit faced by the country's social security institute.

In a bid to calm the protests – the biggest of his 11-year presidency – Ortega agreed Saturday, April 21, to speak with the private sector about social security reforms, only to be rebuffed by Nicaragua's top private-sector business union.

They said there could be no dialogue unless the government "immediately ceases police repression."

On Saturday local media reported that journalist Miguel Angel Gahona was shot dead by a suspected sniper in the city of Bluefields, on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.

Journalists have reportedly faced attacks, been temporarily detained and had their work equipment stolen since the start of the protests. Meanwhile, four independent television outlets were taken off air on Thursday, although only one currently remains closed. – Rappler.com</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua's government says it is willing to negotiate over controversial social security reforms that have prompted protests and deadly clashes this week.

Vice President, first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo says nine people have been killed in the unrest. She calls the protests "cruel."

Dozens of others have been injured or arrested in the chaos in various cities across the Central American nation.

Murillo said late Friday that President Daniel Ortega's government is responding to calls for dialogue made by Roman Catholic Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and the private business sector.

She added that the social security reforms "are not concluded proposals, but (rather) we are open to discussing them."

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>MANAGUA (Reuters) - Anti-government protests in Nicaragua entered a fifth day on Sunday as the death toll from the violence rose and looting was reported in some areas, aggravating the crisis around longstanding President Daniel Ortega.

The Red Cross said at least seven people had died and hundreds had been injured in the demonstrations, while a local human rights organization said it had registered 25 deaths.

The protests began on Wednesday over plans to increase worker contributions and lower pensions, and some stores in Managua were looted at the weekend, Reuters witnesses said. At least two protest marches were planned in Managua on Sunday.

Late on Saturday, local media said a reporter was shot and killed during a live broadcast from Bluefields, a town on the Caribbean coast hit by the unrest. Graphic footage of the incident soon spread onto local and social media.

Lissett Guido, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said there were seven confirmed deaths and that the number would likely rise. The government had reported “almost 10” by late on Friday.

Marlin Sierra, director of human rights organization CENIDH, said it had logged 25 deaths, mostly caused by firearms and rubber bullets. That number could not be independently verified. Most of the dead were aged between 15 and 34, she said.

The police crackdown on demonstrators and curbs on some media in the past few days have fueled broader criticism of Ortega, who has gradually tightened his hold on the country’s institutions since he returned to power over 11 years ago.

Pope Francis called on Sunday for an end to the violence in Nicaragua and called for differences to be “resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility.”

Nicaragua has been one of the more stable countries in Central America, largely avoiding the turmoil caused by gang violence or political upheaval that has at times plagued Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in recent years.

But top Nicaraguan business lobby COSEP has backed peaceful protests against the government, and said it would not enter talks with Ortega to review the social security plan until he had ended police repression and restored freedom of expression.

A former Marxist guerrilla and Cold War antagonist of the United States, Ortega has presided over a period of stable growth with a blend of socialist policies and capitalism.

But critics accuse Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, of trying to establish a family dictatorship. The country remains one of the poorest in the Americas.

Ortega was a driving force in the overthrow of one of Latin America’s most notorious regimes when his Sandinistas ended the Somoza dynasty’s long rule of the country in 1979.

He was elected president in 1984, but a civil war, which pitted the Sandinistas against U.S.-backed right wing Contra rebels, hurt his popularity, and he was voted out in 1990.

Not until a 2006 election did Ortega reclaim the presidency.

Now 72, he has maintained an uneasy relationship with the United States, toning down his Cold War rhetoric but forging close ties with U.S. adversaries such as the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro.</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — The Latest on unrest in Nicaragua (all times local):

Pope Francis has expressed deep worry over deadly violence in Nicaragua fueled by protests and he’s pressing for a peaceful solution.

Human rights advocates say that since April 18 at least 26 people have been killed in unrest over social security reforms planned by President Daniel Ortega’s government. Dozens have been injured or arrested.

Francis told people in St. Peter’s Square that he’s “very worried” about the situation in the Central American country.

He said he’s expressing “closeness in prayer to that beloved country” and joining local bishops in seeking an end to “every violence, that useless bloodshed is avoided and that open issues are resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility.”

Ortega says his government is willing to enter into talks over the dispute.

In the grainy, nighttime video, journalist Angel Gahona, clad in jeans and a blue shirt, holds up a cellphone and narrates as he approaches the facade of city hall in Bluefields, Nicaragua, reporting live via Facebook on protests that have rocked the Central American nation for four days.

Seconds later a gunshot rings out and Gahona slumps lifeless to the curb. Voices cry his name and someone presses a piece of cloth to his head to try to staunch the stream of blood. Another Bluefields reporter, Ileana Lacayo, confirms that he died before reaching the hospital.

Besides Gahona at least 25 others have been killed since Wednesday in unrest over social security reforms planned by President Daniel Ortega’s government, according to a human rights group.</s>Protests in Nicaragua over changes to social security have led to the deaths of at least three people, including a police officer, the Red Cross said on Friday, heaping pressure on the leftist government of President Daniel Ortega.

Nicaraguans have been protesting for three straight days against government changes to social security, signed into law earlier this week, that increase worker contributions and lower pensions.

On Thursday, the police officer and a young protester were shot dead in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, while another youth was shot in the city of Tipitapa, northeast of Managua, the nation's Red Cross told Reuters on Friday.

"We're not sure what happened. It's unclear. We don't know whose side (the victims were on), whether they were in favor or opposed," said Lisseth Guido, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross of Nicaragua.

Guido said some 48 people had received medical attention on Thursday for varying injuries due to the protests. Violent protests continued into Friday as anti-riot police used tear gas, but it was not immediately clear if there were further casualties.

A former leftist guerrilla leader who critics accuse of trying to set up a family dictatorship, Ortega has been president since 2007, delivering solid growth by fusing socialist policies with an embrace of free markets.

But moves to increase worker contributions to social security and reduce pensions, which the government argues are fiscally necessary, has sparked a violent backlash.

The wave of protests is the biggest since Ortega took power, placing him alongside other Latin American leftists who have come under pressure after failing to consolidate economic gains.

After Ortega's government approved the social security overhaul this week, hundreds of retirees hit the streets in protest on Wednesday. They were joined the next day by thousands of students and business workers in cities around the nation, sparking violent clashes with police.

Protesters on Friday held signs saying: "no more repression" and "we are not scared."

Since the protests began, at least three local television stations that were broadcasting the protests live had their signals abruptly cut.

100% Noticias, the only TV station still without a signal, called the move "arbitrary and illegal."

Neighboring Costa Rica's foreign policy chief, Christian Guillermet, expressed concern on Friday about the violence and media censorship.

"It's always important to maintain social peace and in that sense we don't believe infringing on freedom of expression is conducive," said Guillermet.</s>More than 20 people have been killed since Wednesday in Nicaragua in clashes between police and demonstrators at protests over planned pension reforms, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said on Sunday.

The center said it was still trying to verify figures. The government has so far put the death toll at 10.

A journalist, Angel Gahona, is among those killed in the violence. Gahona was shot dead in the town of Bluefields on Saturday while live-streaming the latest wave of demonstrations against the government's planned reforms.

"We believe a sniper fired the shot, it wasn't the young people ... The only people who were armed were the police and riot police," his colleague Ileana Lacayo told television station Canal 15.

Authorities have, however, blamed the attack on what they call "criminal rights groups."

The protests come after the government issued a decree calling for increases in income and payroll taxes, as well as changes to the pension system to shore up Nicaragua's troubled social security system.

President Daniel Ortega, who issued the decree, has made no apologies for his government's deadly response to the demonstrations. In his first public appearance Saturday since the violence erupted, he said he was open to talks over the dispute.

Ortega said during a nationally broadcast televised address that he wanted the talks so there would be "no more terror for Nicaraguan families." The former Marxist guerrilla hasaccused the United States of fomenting public dissent.

But Ortega said he would only discuss the issue with business leaders. He noted that the decree goes into effect July 1, and said there is time to reconsider it.

"We'll have to see what change can be made to this decree or whether we need to do a new one," he said during the televised address. "Hopefully, we can find a better way of making this change."

COSEP, a private sector business lobby, quickly put conditions on any talks with Ortega. The group said talks could not begin until the government ended police violence, released those who had been arrested for demonstrating peacefully, and re-established freedom of speech.

"We urge the government to create these conditions immediately to avoid more bloodshed," COSEP said. "We cannot go into a dialogue if these minimal conditions are not met."

Nicaragua's Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops condemned the government's violent crackdown and called on the president to drop the social security reforms.

In a statement, the conference said: "A unilateral decision always brings with it social instability. Rectifying decisions is a sign of humanity, listening is the path of reason, seeking peace at all cost is wisdom."

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Two university student protesters were killed Friday in clashes over a social security reform pushed by President Daniel Ortega's government, according to independent media reports.

Police did not immediately confirm the deaths, but images of the two young men were carried in local media and repeated on social networks. They came a day after a police officer, a protester and a pro-government activist became the first confirmed casualties of the violence.

Dozens more are believed to have been wounded or arrested based on video broadcasts, in days of unrest the likes of which has become rare in the Central American nation and which elicited a heavy-handed response.

"The Nicaraguan state must fulfill its international obligations to ensure people can freely exercise their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful gathering and association," the U.N.'s human rights office said in a statement.

The Organization of American States issued its own statement of concern, while also calling on demonstrators to protest peacefully.

The clashes, pitting protesters opposed to the reforms against riot police and pro-government groups such as the Sandinista Youth, have rocked the capital, Managua, and a half-dozen other cities over the last three days.

Some demonstrators carried heavy sticks or threw rocks as they faced off against armored officers with batons and riot shields. One agent was wounded in the leg by a makeshift mortar Friday in the capital.

Security forces have seized vehicles carrying provisions for the protesters, and at one point police invaded an area near Managua's Metropolitan Cathedral where the Roman Catholic Church had been collecting donations. In response, protesters burned one of the famous "tree of life" sculptures that Ortega's government has erected along numerous streets in the city.

A prominent umbrella organization for Nicaraguan chambers of commerce condemned the violence, called for a peaceful march Monday and urged authorities to respect freedom of expression.

Vice President, first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo alleged that violent acts by government supporters were provoked by those opposing the reforms, who were in turn being "manipulated" by political interests seeking to take advantage of the crisis.

"These moments are tragic and painful for all our people, for the entire country," Murillo said Friday. "And responsibility for these crimes of hate and for the atmosphere and waters that have been stirred up and clouded will fall upon those who treacherously agitate and encourage without showing their face."

The government said at least 28 police officers have been wounded in the violence, but has not released numbers of protesters hurt or arrested.

The demonstrations come after years in which the opposition claimed electoral fraud and other malfeasance by the government, but without street protests reaching such magnitude or intensity.

"This is the release of a series of troubles that have been building among the people," sociologist and analyst Melvin Sotelo said, "and social security is the drop that overflowed the glass."

The government reforms increase income and payroll taxes and make changes to pensions to try to shore up Nicaragua's troubled social security system.
Ten people are killed in Nicaragua as anti-government protests over pension reforms enter their fourth day.