MANAGUA – Thousands of opposition members marched on Saturday to defy the power of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega hours before another march was to begin in support of the president, all under a strong police guard to avoid confrontations.

The opposition march, which ended without incident, was called by 18 organizations of civil society to protest the Sandinista government’s harassment of the opposition and against the Supreme Court ruling allowing Ortega to run for re-election, according to the organizers.

The demonstration, in which several thousand people from all over the country took part, according to the organizers, began at 9:45 a.m. local time (1545 GMT), hours before the beginning of the march in support of Ortega.

Violeta Granera, representing the organizers, at the end of the march read the “Managua Manifesto,” which said that the march was carried out after overcoming obstacles, threats and acts of terrorism by the Ortega government “to intimidate the opposition, but without success.”

The march was called to protest the Oct. 19 ruling of the panel of Nicaragua’s Supreme Court, which voted to overturn a ban on re-election. The ruling clears the way for Ortega to seek re-election in 2011.

Joining in the demonstration were members of five political parties of the opposition waving banners with slogans like “Out with ALBA,” referring to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas promoted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, “No to re-election” and “Yes to freedom of speech.”

The opposition protest ended as planned in front of the building of the Supreme Electoral Council without any incidents to report, except for complaints that in some towns of the nation’s interior followers of President Ortega tried to keep the opposition from assembling freely.

The Sandinista march was to take place Saturday afternoon to celebrate, according to its organizers, the ruling party’s victory in the municipal elections of Nov. 9, 2008, considered “fraudulent” by the opposition.

Sandinista demonstrators plan a 2-kilometer (1¼-mile) march through the capital to a plaza in front of a hotel on Managua’s south side, where a rally was to be held.

The rally was planned to end with a speech by President Ortega.