Nicaraguans resort to sticks, stones after vote

A supporter of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front party, FSLN, fires a homemade mortar against opposition supporters, not in picture, during a demonstration in Managua, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008. Two police officers and three civilians were reported injured after clashes between supporters of the FSLN and opposition supporters over the Nov. 9 municipal elections. The sticker on the mortar reads in Spanish "FSLM, let's go for more victories." (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) - AP

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Thousands of supporters of Nicaragua's leftist ruling party armed with rocks tried to block an opposition march on the capital to protest alleged vote fraud, setting off clashes that injured at least five people on Tuesday.

Two police officers and at least three protesters were injured by thrown rocks, national police spokeswoman Vilma Reyes said. Riot police came out in force, but some bloodied partisans still wrestled in the streets, throwing punches and tearing at ears.

Sandinista supporters blocked roads to Managua to cut off protests by the Constitutionalist Liberal Party over the outcome of Nov. 9 municipal elections. A similar clash took place Sunday.

An electoral tribunal dominated by President Daniel Ortega's Sandinista party declared his party the winner of most the races, including in the hotly contested Nicaraguan capital of Managua.

Opponents of the government said results were tampered with in Ortega's first major electoral test since reclaiming the presidency in 2006. The government says voting was fair.

Ortega has returned to power two decades after leading a Marxist government that fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels. He has since been a regular critic of U.S. foreign policy and built strong ties with Venezuela, Russia and Iran.