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. "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.

Source: ABC News April 20, 2018 19:52 UTC