Nicaragua students released from the church after a violent night; a slain

The Catholic Bishops obtained Saturday the release of dozens of Nicaraguan student demonstrators imprisoned overnight in a church under the hail. A human rights group said the students were refugees inside the Catholic Church of Divine Mercy on Friday after gunmen loyal to the President Daniel Ortega began shooting at them. the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) in Managua, prompting further criticism of the violent crackdown on opposition to its government.

Paulo Abrao of the Inter- The American Human Rights Commission said on Twitter that at least one youth had died in the church and three people had been injured. The mother of a woman who spent the night in the church told Reuters that a student was dead.

Some local media reported that two people had died

Nearly three months of clashes between pro-government forces Ortega and protesters calling for his ousting have killed nearly 300 people during the bloodiest protests in Nicaragua since the end of the civil war in 1990.

The mother who reported a death The students spent the night squatting on the church floor, fearing for their lives as the shooters fired shots ricocheting in the church.

"They have no qualms about shooting and killing anyone … This morning, a young man died inside the church," said the mother, Socorro. She asked not to give her last name for fear of reprisals

A delegation of Nicaraguan Catholic Bishops negotiated the transfer of students to the Managua Metropolitan Cathedral, where they were receiving medical care

. to comment.

Sending students home could expose them to more attacks, said Gonzalo Carrion of the Center's Rights Center. man from Nicaragua. Shoot and kill the students, when they do not kill them, they are beaten and accused of committing horrible crimes, "said Carrion Francisco O. Connor, 1965-19004 Francisco Palmieri, the under-secretary of state US deputy for Western Hemisphere affairs, on Twitter sentenced what he called the attacks of pro-government forces against UNAN students. "This violence to intimidate and repress the people must stop immediately, "he said.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted Friday night that if US staff or their families were harmed, Ortega" would personally suffer serious repercussions. "

Nicaragua was convulsed by unrest since April, when Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla leader, proposed cutting pension benefits to alleviate budgetary pressures.

Although the plan was abandoned, provoked violent clashes. 19659022] A national strike cleared the streets on Friday as businesses shut down, responding to calls from civil society groups who want to resign from Ortega and hold early elections

Oswaldo Rivas in Managua Additional report by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City Written by Anthony Esposito Edited by Dave Graham and Leslie Adler)