Sandinistas march in Nicaragua’s capital against Libya offensive

Hundreds of followers of the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, demonstrated Thursday in Managua for the third time in five days to protest the international military operation against Libya.

Ortega’s followers, called the Nicaraguan Solidarity Committee with Libya, held a march that passed by the Libya embassy and ended outside the headquarters of the United Nations Development Program.

Leaders of the march denounced “imperialist military aggression backed by the UN.”

During the demonstration, which occured without incident, the participants chanted “No war”, “Yes to peace”, and displayed banners and posters with ictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

“Now the U.N… is not only useless, but a weapon of death at the hands of the empire,” said Miguel D’Escoto, who was chancellor during the first Sandinista government (1979-1990) and is now adviser for matters of international relations of President Ortega.

He said the United States, France and England are using the U.N. to start “a totally unjust war that violates international law, the right to life and is contrary to self-determination of the people.”

D’Escoto added that the military intervention is designed to “seize the oil resources” in Libya.

Earlier this week, Costa Rica announced it supported the no-fly zone.