Fatal clashes as Nicaragua rivals dispute Ortega victory

Violence in the wake of Nicaragua’s disputed presidential election has left at least four people dead and dozens of police officers injured.

Police say there were clashes between supporters and opponents of President Daniel Ortega, whose re-election is strongly contested by his rivals who complain of widespread vote-rigging.

Trouble was reported in several towns, particularly in the north of the central American country.

Both local and international groups have reported voting irregularities. An EU team said election organisers had been neither fully independent, impartial or transparent.

Ortega, who led Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution in 1979, was officially re-elected with more than 62 percent of the vote, double the score of his nearest rival Fabio Gardea.

He was able to run after the Supreme Court controversially overturned a ban on consecutive terms in office.

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