Protesters opposed to President Daniel Ortega's government clashed with riot police and Sandinista Youth groups in cities across Nicaragua Saturday, with demonstrators burning tires and setting up barricades in violence that left two people dead and dozens injured. Besides Masaya, protests were also reported in Chinandega, Granada, Leon, Managua, Masaya and Rivas in the Pacific region, as well as in Esteli and Matagalpa in the north. The demonstrations began in April as protests against social security reforms but have expanded into calls for the Sandinista president to step down. Ortega addressed Nicaraguans in a brief message Saturday, describing events in Masaya as painful and calling for an end to the violence. Before Saturday's deaths and several other deaths reported on Thursday, a human rights group estimated 63 people had been killed.

Source: ABC News May 13, 2018 04:30 UTC