Strike in Nicaragua Turns Violent

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — A nationwide transport strike turned deadly Tuesday as armed workers clashed with police and Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega called for an uprising against fuel price increases.

“The people . . . are going to put a finish to this government,” said former President Ortega, whose leftist government was defeated by President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1990 elections.

A police officer and a woman bystander were killed and at least two other people wounded in a shootout between striking transportation workers and police on a major highway outside Managua.

The strike has raised fears that Nicaragua’s political crisis could deepen further. Hostage-taking by rearmed rebels on both sides of the 1980s guerrilla war, and bitter political infighting, have continued to stall the nation’s economic recovery.