Nicaragua: From revolution to crisis

A man crouches behind a barricade and points a rifle in 1979/ Local residents walk between barricades in Masaya, some 35km from Managua on June 20, 2018. — Image caption,
Three months into a wave of protests which has engulfed Nicaragua, some in the Central American country are saying that it is on the brink of a new revolution. They draw comparisons to the Sandinista Revolution which has been marked every year on 19 July since the 1979 overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza.

Anastasio Somoza waves to his supporters behind a bullet-proof glass during a meeting in Managua in 1978, a few months before being overthrown by leftist Frente Sandinista de Liberacion National movement 20 July 1979/Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega speaks to supporters during the government-called 'Walk for Security and Peace' in Managua on July 7, 2018

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Back then, Daniel Ortega (right) was one of the commanders of the Sandinista guerrilla movement that overthrew Anastasio Somoza (left), whose family had ruled Nicaragua for more than 40 years with an iron fist, killing opposition leaders and violently crushing any dissent.

Sandinista graffiti can be seen on a wall in June 1979/A man drives a bike past a wall with graffiti reading 'Ortega assassin' and 'Our fight is fair' in Masaya, Nicaragua on June 20, 2018.

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Now it is the former Sandinista commander who is being accused of using lethal force against those who oppose him and what they say are his attempts to establish a dynasty of his own.

First aiders carry a person in 1979/Anti-government protesters help an injured partner during clashes within the 'Marcha de las Flores' in Managua, on June 30, 2018

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Local NGOs say that more than 350 people have been killed since the start of the anti-government protests on 18 April.

Sandinistas run along a wall in 1978/ Masked young men run along a front of houses in 2018

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While members of the security forces are among those who have been killed, human rights organisations say that most of the victims have been unarmed civilians shot dead by the security forces and armed supporters of the 72-year-old president.

A photojournalist sits among Sandinista rebels in 1979/Students stand behind a barricade close to Nicaragua's Technical College during protests against government's reforms in the Institute of Social Security (INSS) in Managua on April 21, 2018

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Anti-government protesters have erected barricades which closely resemble those used during the revolution to protect themselves. But the government says the blockades hamper trade and the free circulation of people and have launched "Operation Clean-up" to rid the streets of them.

Armed security forces can be seen by the entrance to a pharmacy in 1979/Riot police forces confront anti-government demonstrators at Monimbo neighbourhood in Masaya, some 35 km from Managua, on July 13, 2018

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Riot police have moved into opposition strongholds and recaptured some of them.

Sandinista fighters with masks in Nicaragua in 1979/Masked opposition demonstrators take part in a nationwide march called 'United we are a volcano', in Managua on July 12, 2018.

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The masks that once were a symbol of the urban guerrilla fighters have also made a return.

Sandinista rebels travel on the back of a pick-up truck during the Sandinista revolution./Anti-government protesters fire from a home-made mortar in 2018.

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Just as in the Sandinista revolution, students are once again leading the revolt. They have even revived some of the old revolutionary slogans and songs, but this time they are not being sung by Ortega and his comrades, but by those opposing them. President Ortega accuses the protesters of trying to stage a coup d'etat. Unlike the Sandinista rebels, most of today's protesters are armed with home-made weapons.

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