Mexico City, Jan. 11 -- Nicaraguan media reported Thursday that a Supreme Court justice has resigned with a scathing open letter to President Daniel Ortega, who faced down anti-government protests last year by unleashing security forces and allied groups against demonstrators.

The letter circulating widely on social media was accompanied by a photograph of judge Rafael Solis Cerda's government-issued ID. The letter's authenticity could not be independently confirmed. A message to Solis was not immediately answered.

The government did not immediately comment.

Solis is a long-time member of Ortega's Sandinista Front party, but his letter said Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, are dragging Nicaragua toward a civil war....