Nicaragua Protests: Two-month-old anti-government demonstration ends up in violence

A massive march in Nicaragua against President Daniel Ortega's government ended in violence Wednesday after gunmen opened fire on marchers.

A massive march in Nicaragua against President Daniel Ortega's government ended in violence Wednesday after gunmen opened fire on marchers. IN PIC: Riot police walk in front a wall with graffiti that reads in Spanish 'You can't against this giant nation', 

The gunshots sent thousands of demonstrators running for cover in Managua, Nicaragua's capital, and there were unconfirmed reports of about a dozen people wounded. IN PIC: Demonstrators man a barricade placed in front a National Agrarian University, Managua, Nicaragua. (Photo | AP)

The gunfire appeared to come from government supporters near the end of the march, but demonstrators armed with improvised bottle-rocket launchers also opened fire in the skirmish. IN PIC: A dead person who was shot in the head is carried by paramedics. (Photo | AP)

Human rights observers say more than 80 people have been killed amid a harsh crackdown by government security forces and allied civilian groups on protests that began in April, along with nearly 900 wounded and over 400 arrested. IN PIC: An injured demonstrator receives help. (Photo | AP)

Wednesday was Mothers' Day in Nicaragua and the mothers of those killed during the protests had organized a protest march along Managua's main streets. (Photo | AP)

Daniel Ortega most recently won re-election in November 2016, when opposition leaders had called for a boycott, alleged that the president had riged things in his favor and accused him of dynastic ambitions for picking first lady Rosario Murillo as his vice presidential running mate. (Photo | AP)

Protests that began in April over now-scrapped social security changes have since expanded into a broader movement seeking Ortega's exit. IN PIC: A man who was shot and wounded is loaded into an ambulance. (Photo | AP)

Amnesty International issued a report this week accusing authorities of a strategy of repression characterized by the excessive use of force, extrajudicial executions, control of the media and the use of para-political groups to quash protests. IN PIC: Anti-government demonstrators take cover behind a barricade. (Photo | AP)

Talks sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church on ending the crisis were suspended indefinitely last week due to a lack of progress. (Photo | AP)

On Tuesday, Students seized the Engineering University demanding greater democracy and Ortega's resignation. Government supporters quickly gathered to end the takeover, but anti-government protesters rallied to support the students. (Photo | AP)

A university student with a nicaraguan folk mask takes part in a march against Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega in Managua, Nicaragua, Wednesday, May 30, 2018. (Photo | AP)

Protests also broke out in the city of Masaya, where the prosecutors' offices were set afire. IN PIC: Demonstrators fly Nicaragua flags atop the Alexis Arguello monument. (Photo | AP)