Sandinistas Break Up Opposition March

Mobs of angry Sandinista militants wielding sticks and throwing rocks broke up a march by opposition political parties Sunday in the second violent disturbance here in a month.

About half a dozen people were injured in the melee, including a Sandinista supporter mistakenly beaten by his own people. Several automobiles were damaged by flying rocks and one was set afire, apparently because it was thought to belong to an opposition leader.

The Sandinista mobs, known as turbas, have appeared at several opposition events in the last six weeks, since the government suspended a wartime state of emergency in keeping with the Central American peace plan. Previously, they were active at opposition political rallies during the 1984 presidential elections.

Cradle of Insurrection

Masaya, 20 miles southeast of Managua, is considered the cradle of the popular insurrection that ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza and brought the Sandinistas to power in 1979. Last month, the town was the site of rioting by about 1,000 demonstrators who stoned the Sandinista police station and burned two government cars in protest against the nation’s compulsory military service.

On Sunday, Federico Lopez, the top Sandinista official in the region, was seen directing several gangs in pursuit of the anti-government demonstrators. Asked if the violence did not undermine the peace process, Lopez said: “What violence? These people have been bused in to try to create the impression that Masaya is no longer revolutionary, is no longer Sandinista, and to give arguments to the rightists in the U.S. Congress to give more aid to the Contras.”

Opposition Outnumbered

The government authorized the opposition political parties to hold their rally and to march across the town plaza, where a Sandinista women’s organization was authorized to end a march of its own. Both events ostensibly were in support of International Women’s Day, and both sides claimed to have requested the permit first.

About 300 members of the opposition political parties gathered in front of a movie theater. Across the plaza, about 1,000 Sandinistas gathered beside a colonial church.

The Sandinista youths filtered over to the opposition side and began to heckle the marchers as soon as they began moving down a shadeless residential street. Opposition marchers shouted that the government’s Ministry of Internal Commerce was “robbing while the people are working.” The Sandinistas shouted “People Power!” and “the Right should leave!”

The mobs grabbed opposition party flags from the hands of demonstrators and burned them. They also threw fruit, and soon rocks began to fly. It was not clear who tossed the first stone. The anti-government demonstrators initially fought back but, realizing they were outnumbered by the Sandinistas, quickly dispersed.

After the initial clash, the mobs split into groups of about 20 each and ran through the streets to harass opposition groups wherever they gathered. Several anti-government demonstrators were beaten. Sandinista police stood by but did not intervene to stop the disturbance.