Thousands of supporters of the government of President Daniel Ortega marched this Saturday in Managua, Nicaragua to chants of “He stays, my commander stays!”, “We want peace!”.

President Ortega finally broke silence with regards to the demands of early elections made by protestors and ruled out this possibility, speaking to supporters and state employees, he stated:

“The rules here are set by the Constitution, through the people, the rules can not be changed from one day to the next simply because a group of coup plotters wants to”, said Ortega, “if the coup plotters want to reach the government they must get the votes of the people, as the Law states”.

The Constitution in Nicaragua stipulates that elections are held every five years, the last elections were held in November of 2016, new elections are scheduled for 2021, however, Juan Sebastian Chamorro member of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy state that the position of the Civic Alliance is that the current situation in the country is unsustainable through 2021.

Ortega also stated that “the people will continue to fight for peace, so that all places where crimes are being committed disappear in Nicaragua”, alluding to the areas where protesters have established roadblocks and barricades to prevent the access of police and members of the military. The president continues to blame protesters for the violence in the streets and brands them as “criminals”.

The crisis in Nicaragua erupted in April 18 and has already claimed the lives of over 300 people, and let thousands injured.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as well as an assortment of Nicaraguan organizations, have accused Daniel Ortega’s administration of severe human rights violations.

Two days ago, the U.S. government ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel.