MANAGUA – Followers of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, leader of the official Sandinista party, attacked dissident Sandinistas who were protesting on the one-year anniversary of nationwide municipal elections they consider “fraudulent.”

The brawl took place outside the Supreme Electoral Council, or CSE, located in front of the central headquarters of the national police in Managua.

The protesters sought refuge in police headquarters, where the Ortega followers pursued them with rocks and tubes for shooting firecrackers, according to video reports seen on television.

An Efe photographer witnessed Ortega loyalists in an SUV throwing eggs at a television news crew and a dissident who was being interviewed.

The president’s followers, some with their faces covered, threw rocks and firecrackers at the police facilities and broke a glass door.

Police chief Aminta Granera, who was at a meeting with the National Council to analyze the protests scheduled for Monday, went to the scene of the incident and was met by dissidents who denounced the aggression.

“Please speak, say what you’re thinking, what you feel. They’re trampling on your constitution, your country, your free homeland that a lot of people died for,” a young dissident shouted at Granera amid a throng of reporters.

The dissident Sandinistas urged the police chief to take action against the alleged aggressors.

“Violence begets violence,” Granera said, without mentioning any arrests or injuries in Monday’s incident. She invited dissidents to protest peacefully and said that “nothing’s going to happen to them,” because a squad of riot cops was to be sent for their protection.

She acknowledged, however, that stopping street violence between opposing groups is “difficult.”

The chief recalled that four police were beaten Sunday in a town northwest of Managua when they got between groups of militant Sandinistas and the opposition.

“We’re putting our bodies as a shield to protect and defend them,” Granera said, adding that the force will also be deployed this Monday to ward off disturbances.

The official Sandinistas have announced celebrations in the streets this Monday for the victory in 105 out of 146 mayoralties including Managua in the 2008 municipal elections, described as fraudulent by the opposition, who called the protests. EFE