The death toll from violent anti-government protests in Nicaragua last week is now up to 38, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights told CNN Friday. The government reports a death toll of 10.

The deaths came amid the largest street protests the country has seen since the civil war ended in 1990. Protesters clashed with security forces, and different groups among the demonstrators also clashed with each other.

The unrest was spurred by the implementation of a controversial pension reform resolution intended to halt the growing deficit in the country's social security system.

Citizens took to the streets to protest the changes, which amounted to increased contributions into the social security system by workers and employers and the reduction of the pensions of retired workers. </s> A non-governmental rights group in Nicaragua says it has confirmed that 63 people died during days of protests over social security changes that convulsed the country last week, AP reported.

The Permanent Commission on Human Rights adds that at least 15 other people are missing. Director Marcos Carmona accused authorities Thursday of "a massacre" against student protesters and the Nicaraguan people.

The government did not immediately confirm, deny or otherwise comment on Thursday's report. Its most recent official death toll of 12 was announced Monday. </s> A non-governmental rights group in Nicaragua says it has confirmed that 63 people died during days of protests over social security changes that convulsed the country last week.

The Permanent Commission on Human Rights adds that at least 15 other people are missing. Director Marcos Carmona accused authorities Thursday of "a massacre" against student protesters and the Nicaraguan people.

The government did not immediately confirm, deny or otherwise comment on Thursday's report. Its most recent official death toll of 12 was announced Monday.

The rights group said it has also counted over 160 people wounded by gunfire, including nine who lost an eye and two who were left paralyzed.

President Daniel Ortega's government has scrapped the overhaul that sparked the protests and agreed to talks with different sectors of society. </s> MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua's government says it is willing to negotiate over controversial social security reforms that have prompted protests and deadly clashes this week.

Vice President, first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo says nine people have been killed in the unrest. She calls the protests "cruel."

Dozens of others have been injured or arrested in the chaos in various cities across the Central American nation.

Murillo said late Friday that President Daniel Ortega's government is responding to calls for dialogue made by Roman Catholic Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and the private business sector.

She added that the social security reforms "are not concluded proposals, but (rather) we are open to discussing them."

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> At Least 24 Dead After Deadly Riots In Nicaragua

Deadly rioting in Nicaragua prompted by planned changes to the pension system killed at least 24 people. The U.S. State Department ordered embassy relatives to leave the country and curtailed embassy services. </s> Nicaraguan Health Minister Sonia Castro confirmed Thursday that 15 people have died and 199 have been wounded over the past two days of anti-government protests around the country.

At public and private health centers nationwide "(medical) attention was provided to 199 people who were injured and we also have 15 fatalities," said the minister at a press conference together with other top public officials.

This is the second time since the eruption of the crisis on April 18 that the Daniel Ortega government has confirmed fatalities resulting from the protests, although humanitarian organizations say that the death toll so far stands at about 100.

The first time the government acknowledged protest deaths was when Vice President Rosario Murillo spoke of 10 fatalities in an April 20 appearance before reporters.

The assistant director of the National Police, Francisco Diaz, on Thursday at the press conference read from a report specifying that of the 15 deaths over the past two days, seven occurred in Managua, four in Esteli, three in Chinandega and one in Masaya.

On Thursday, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights released a preliminary report in which it lists at least 11 deaths and 79 people injured during the incidents on Wednesday and Thursday, and it energetically condemned the acts of violence and repression "ordered" by the government.

Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said that the government is "confronting with reason and the law this criminal wave" and denied the existence of "shock troops or paramilitary groups aligned with the government," adding that the Ortega administration had not and will "never" provoke such "sorrowful and tragic events."

He urged the "authorities to coordinate the effort for national dialogue, call for calm and cease all violence, with an eye toward continuing to work for security, justice and peace."

A Catholic Church-mediated national dialogue to find a way out of the crisis was begun on May 16 with the participation of an alliance of civil society sectors and the government but it was suspended last week.

The Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua warned on Thursday that the dialogue will not be resumed as long as the government continues with its repression.

Nicaragua is mired in a socio-political crisis that began with protests over government-sponsored social security reforms but continued even after the Ortega administration cancelled the reforms, exacerbated as a result of the demonstrators killed. </s> (CNN) Dozens of people died last week in Nicaragua as a result of anti-government protests, human rights groups there told CNN Friday -- in contrast to the government's official death toll, which stands at 10.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, based in the capital city of Managua, reported 42 deaths on Sunday. On Saturday, the group had reported 43 people died but revised the death toll, saying they'd mistakenly included a person who was in critical condition.

The Permanent Commission on Human Rights said 58 people died. The government reported its latest death toll April 20.

The deaths came amid the largest street protests the country has seen since the civil war ended in 1990. Protesters clashed with security forces, and different groups among the demonstrators also clashed with each other.

Demonstrators in Managua threw rocks and set fires as police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Several television stations were taken off the air as the government tried to stem the unrest.

Read More </s> Fifteen people have been killed and 218 injured in violent incidents in troubled Nicaragua, police said Thursday.

Wednesday's violence hit the capital Managua, where paramilitary gunmen reportedly attacked an anti-government demonstration; the city of Chinandega in the north-west; Esteli in the north; and Masaya near the capital.

Diaz attributed the violence to "criminal groups," while a statement by President Daniel Ortega linked those groups with the opposition.

Ortega denied the existence of paramilitary groups allied with the government.

The Bishops' Conference denounced action by "armed groups close to the government against the civilian population" and said it was impossible to now resume dialogue in which the Catholic Church had mediated between civil society organizations and the authorities.

The army meanwhile denied that security forces had cooperated with paramilitary groups to crack down on demonstrators.

"We shall never accept slanderous information. The Nicaraguan army has absolute control over its forces," according to the statement.

The Central American country has been in turmoil since April 17, when protests erupted against new taxes on old age and disability pensions, as well as an increase in social security contributions.

The official death toll from the violence stands at 39; human rights group Amnesty International has said, however, that more than 80 people have been killed. </s> 'I express my solidarity with the country, and I join bishops in asking that the violence end, pointless spilling of blood is avoided and the underlying issues be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility,' Pope Francis says

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Sunday, April 22, called for an end to the violence which has engulfed Nicaragua following anti-government protests that have seen 11 killed, including a journalist.

The protests erupted in Nicaragua on Wednesday, April 18, over a proposed pension reform, with violent demonstrations rocking cities across the Central American country.

Francis called for a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

"I'm worried about what's been happening in the last few days in Nicaragua, where after a social protest there were battles that have caused deaths," the pontiff said during the Regina Coeli service at St Peter's Square on Sunday.

"I express my solidarity with the country, and I join bishops in asking that the violence end, pointless spilling of blood is avoided and the underlying issues be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility."

Nicaraguans have taken to the streets over a proposed change to the pension system that would see workers and employers pay more toward the retirement system.

The reform designed by Daniel Ortega's government is aimed at settling a $76 million deficit faced by the country's social security institute.

In a bid to calm the protests – the biggest of his 11-year presidency – Ortega agreed Saturday, April 21, to speak with the private sector about social security reforms, only to be rebuffed by Nicaragua's top private-sector business union.

They said there could be no dialogue unless the government "immediately ceases police repression."

On Saturday local media reported that journalist Miguel Angel Gahona was shot dead by a suspected sniper in the city of Bluefields, on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.

Journalists have reportedly faced attacks, been temporarily detained and had their work equipment stolen since the start of the protests. Meanwhile, four independent television outlets were taken off air on Thursday, although only one currently remains closed. – Rappler.com
Ten people are killed in Nicaragua as anti-government protests over pension reforms enter their fourth day.