Managua, Jun 30 (EFE).- The so-called March of the Flowers, in memory of youngsters who have been killed during the sociopolitical crisis Nicaragua is going through, ended Saturday with a shooting in which at least nine people were reported wounded.
The attack occurred near the Jean Paul Genie Traffic Circle in southeast Managua, where the march ended that was held in honor of some 20 minors who have died in protests against the Daniel Ortega government.
Witnesses of the shooting said the attack was perpetrated by a group of some 20 armed men hiding on private property they had invaded the night before.
The wounded were taken to Vivian Pellas Hospital, according to march organizers.
Until the attack, the demonstration that was thousands strong was proceeding without incident.
The March of the Flowers, called by civic organizations, started out from the downtown Plaza de las Victorias on its way to the Jean Paul Genie Traffic Circle.
Taking part in it were mothers, high school and university students, and citizens in general, most of them waving Nicaraguan flags and carrying crucifixes and flowers in memory of the children and teens who were slain in the days of protests in cities around the country.
The march, called by the organizations Let’s Make Democracy, Movement for Nicaragua, The 19th of April Movement and the Opposition Movement, had been planned for last Saturday but was suspended due to the insecurity around the country.
Saturday’s protest was accompanied by representatives of international human rights organizations currently in Nicaragua to monitor the crisis, according to its organizers.
For more than two months, Nicaragua has been going through its bloodiest crisis since 1980, when Daniel Ortega was also president and which left at least 285 people dead, including 20 minors, according to figures of the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH).
The anti-government protests were originally sparked by some failed social security reforms and soon turned into a demand that the president resign after 11 straight years in power under accusations of corruption and abuse of power against him.