Judy Woodruff:

For the last three months political protests have raged across Nicaragua. They started in April after the government of President Daniel Ortega introduced changes to the nation's pension system.

The protests turned violent after a government crackdown. And more than 300 people, nearly all of them civilians, have since died in clashes on the street.

Today, the White house announced it was sanctioning top Nicaraguan officials, and that the U.S. government was taking back vehicles it had donated to the Nicaraguan national police.

Nick Schifrin has our story.