Protesters hurl rocks at President Bolanos
by Filadelfo Aleman

The Associated Press    Translate This Article
27 April 2005

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - President Enrique Bolanos' attempt Tuesday to address protesters demanding his resignation was met with a barrage of rocks, which missed him but injured his son, officials said.

The incident, which forced the younger Enrique Bolanos to seek hospital treatment for a minor head wound, followed days of often-violent student protests over the government's refusal to halt bus fare increases.

The elder Bolanos has blamed those protests on the leftist Sandinista Front, which has been struggling with the government for political control of the country.

Bolanos announced later in the day that he was placing the army on alert in case of possible further disturbances.

``I have instructed the Defense Ministry and the Army to maintain permanent vigilance,'' Bolanos said.

Congressmen from the dominant Constitutionalist Liberal Party have formed a de facto alliance with their traditional foes from the Sandinista Front to strip Bolanos of much of his power and split power among themselves.

Bolanos won election on the Constitutionalist Liberal ticket, but he alienated party leaders when his administration won a corruption conviction against former President Arnoldo Aleman—the most influential figure in the Liberal Party.

Student and transportation worker protests in the past two weeks have left at least a dozen police officers seriously injured and led to more than 60 arrests.

On Tuesday, about 5,000 protesters allied with the Sandinistas chanted for Bolanos to resign before he came out to try to talk with them and was met by rock throwing.

``I invite them to come to me so that we can look for solutions,'' Bolanos told reporters after police rushed him out of the crowd. ``I left because there was no one with whom to dialogue; instead there were insults and violence. It is impossible to find solutions under these conditions.''

Bolanos added that he has no intention of resigning, ``because they don't yet know who Enrique Bolanos is.''



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