Nicaraguan police repressed parishioners and protesters after the Stations of the Cross in Managua Cathedral

Once again, the Nicaraguan police repressed a group of protesters protesting against Daniel Ortega's regime at the end of the traditional viacrucis of Good Friday on the outskirts of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua.

Riot police carried out preventive actions and they threw stun bombs and tear gas to disperse the group of protesters, mainly young people, who temporarily paralyzed vehicle traffic in a street adjacent to the cathedral, where they took refuge.

People dressed in civilian clothes and hiding their faces with motorcycle helmets threw stones inside the temple.

As, some young people responded to the repression with stones.

The incidents occurred after the end of the traditional viacrucis on Good Friday, Thousands of Nicaraguans participated, including children, women and the elderly.

After completing the procession, dozens of young people started waving the flags of Nicaragua and wooden cross with the names of the dead in the context of the demonstrations that erupted a year ago.

They also shouted slogans in which they demanded the freedom of the so-called "political prisoners" and that justice be done for the victims who left the demonstrations.

"Free Nicaragua Viva", "Liberty for Nicaragua", "Democracy yes, no dictatorship"protesters chanted, among other messages, Ortega and his wife, the vice president Rosario Murillowhile they sang the national anthem and the testimony music.

Later, they left the atrium of the Cathedral of Managua and, carrying Nicaraguan flags and wooden crosses, they went on a street to continue the demonstration, where they temporarily restrained vehicles.

Minutes after they came to the place at least ten patrols loaded with police who made detonations with their weapons disperse the protesters.

Volunteer firefighters of the rapid intervention brigade attended a minor who had a hysteria crisis and fainted listening to the reports, without consequences, one of his spokesmen told reporters.

During the procession, which went off without a hitch, a group of young people, mainly with their faces covered, waved flags of Nicaragua, symbol of the protests against Ortega.

Others have spread the flag near the image of Jesus sacrificed, some with red spots, simulating the blood, in memory of the hundreds of deaths left by the crisis and others with the shield in distress.

During the procession, the "autoconvocados", as we call the demonstrators, do not follow the partisan directives, They expressed their solidarity with those considered as political prisoners by the opposition.

The procession was led by the Nicaraguan Cardinal, Léopold Breneswho asked Jesus to "not let the strong indulge in injustice".

The opposition blue and white national unity has asked Nicaraguans on the eve of participating in Holy Week religious celebrations as an act of rebellion and a means of preserving the safety of protesters.

During the day, the journalist Sergio Leon He denounced his detention by police officers, who besieged the independent broadcaster La Costeñísima, which he runs in the municipality of Bluefields, head of the Southern Caribbean Autonomous Region (RACS).

"I've been withheld for a few minutes, but I'm fine"said the communicator, who published on his social networks a video showing two patrols with dozens of police in front of La Costeñísima radio.

The Follow-up Mechanism of Nicaragua (Meseni) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) stated in a tweet that it was urgent to "respect freedom of expression and journalism in the #Nicaragua".

Luis AlmagroSecretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) was pronounced Monday, after a new day of repression: "We demand the cessation of repression in Nicaragua and respect for fundamental freedoms, including the right to demonstrate."

According to the IACHR, Nicaragua is undergoing a serious crisis that has left 325 dead since April 2018, although some groups bring the death toll to 568, while the executive recognizes only 199 and denounces an attempt of coup d'etat.