Nicaragua says force will be used against squatters

Nicaraguan authorities said Friday they will continue using force against squatters who take over private land, a day after police evicted a group from property outside the capital.

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to force about 200 people from 70 hectares (175 acres) of land east of Managua, and arrested five, Deputy National Police Commander Cesar Cuadra said.

The incident came several days after elections that returned Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega to the presidency for a second term after several defeats.

Local television said the squatters insulted the police and said that they were sorry they had backed the leftist Ortega.

Cuadra said removing the squatters was within the law and that the owner, identified as Maritza Salinas Lacayo, had filed legal action.

After Ortega lost power in 1990, police took several similar actions, recovering private property that had been confiscated by the Sandinistas.

Ortega had promised during his campaign this time around that there would be no further government confiscations or takeovers by squatters.

Blanca Buitrago, leader of a group of thousands of people who lost property to government confiscations during the decade of Sandinista rule, told The Associated Press that Ortega's promise "gives us some relief."

"We hope he keeps his word," she said. "There are still thousands of unresolved cases of confiscated property owned by Nicaraguans and foreigners, including many Americans."

The U.S. government has conditioned aid to Nicaragua each year on return of land taken from Americans or payment for it.

Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco urged squatters to stop the takeovers and said he hopes Ortega's government will give the city money to buy land to be distributed to thousands of Nicaraguans.