MANAGUA, Nicaragua — In a grainy, nighttime video, journalist Angel Gahona, clad in jeans and a blue shirt, holds up a cellphone and narrates as he approaches the facade of city hall in Bluefields, Nicaragua, reporting live via Facebook on protests that have rocked the Central American nation for four days.
Seconds later a gunshot rings out and Gahona slumps lifeless to the curb. Voices cry his name and someone presses a piece of cloth to his head to try to staunch the stream of blood. Another Bluefields reporter, Ileana Lacayo, confirms that he died before reaching the hospital.
Besides Gahona, at least 25 others have been killed since Wednesday in unrest over social security reforms planned by President Daniel Ortega’s government, according to a human rights group. Dozens more have been injured or arrested.
Ortega said Saturday in his first public appearance since the demonstrations began that his government is willing to enter into talks over the dispute. In a nationally televised address, he said he is open to negotiations so that there is “no more terror for Nicaraguan families.”
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