"In addition the townspeople insisted the riot police opened fire on the civilians who were at the barricades," he reported.
He spoke to the mayor of Jinotega and the head of the national police, who "denied their involvement in the repressive actions."
"I was left with no other choice but to personally go out (accompanied by some priests and faithful) at 11 o'clock at night to care for the injured and to transport the body of young Abraham Antonio Castro Jarquín, who sadly died as a result of these confrontations," he stated.
Bishop Herrera urged demonstrators to "show tolerance and act with respect," and asked the municipal authorities "not to use violence" because "you will bring on more mourning and an uncontrollable spiral of violence which we will all regret."
Bishop Herrara asked the faithful to continue to pray for peace, "keep up your petitions and practice mercy with all the needy, especially in emergency situations. We area all responsible to provide assistance in times of crisis, to give a better response to this crisis."
"I hope that we will all contribute to build peace and stability in our city, where we may have guarantees to freely express our opinions," he said.
Nicaragua's bishops met with Ortega June 7 to discuss the country's crisis and possible resumption of the suspended national dialogue. The dialogue among the Ortegas, business owners, students, and farmers began May 16 and collapsed May 23.
They issued a statement afterwards conveying to him "the pain and anguish of the people in face of the violence suffered in recent weeks" and to give him "a proposal that brings together the sentiments of many sectors of Nicaraguan society and expresses the strong desire of the vast majority of the population."
The prelates stated that when the president "has formally responded, we will convene the full session of the national dialogue to assess that response and therefore the feasibility of continuing with the same national dialogue."
The dialogue cannot be resume while Nicaraguans continue to be denied the right to demonstrate freely and are "repressed and assassinated", the bishops stated.
Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes Solorzano of Managua called on Catholics to pray the rosary daily for peace in the country.
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The Nicaraguan government has suggested that protestors are killing their own supporters so as to destabilize Ortega's administration.
The pension reforms which triggered the unrest were modest, but protests quickly turned to Ortega's authoritarian bent.
Ortega has been president of Nicaragua since 2007, and oversaw the abolition of presidential term limits in 2014.
He was a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which had ousted the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and fought US-backed right-wing counterrevolutionaries during the 1980s. Ortega was also leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990.
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.