MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- On Thursday, the people of Nicaragua are going on strike to pressure their President Daniel Ortega to step down, after 11 years in power.

They have closed their businesses and are refraining from using any public services throughout the entire Central America country.

In the capital city of Managua, the roads are mostly empty in a typically bustling city.

Many of the people of Nicaragua spoke with Spectrum News and say they just want the world to know what has been happening to them over the past two months.

They said feel this strike is the only method they have left to put pressure on the regime so they can return to democracy.

Just two weeks ago, more than a dozen people died in shootings that erupted around protests on Mothers' Day in Nicaragua, many of them shot by snipers.

Around 150 people have been killed in the past two months of unrest.

The protest, mostly led by students, started when President Ortega tried to change the country's social security system, which would severely impact the elderly community.

A Nicaraguan pastor told me they want to resolve this peacefully.

"I have to say as a Nicaraguan I'm proud of the Nicaraguan people ... the students and everybody who's joining them. We don't want to see an armed revolution because we know violence would only bring more violence," he said.

On Monday, the Catholic Church announced President Ortega responded to a call to restart the national dialogue on Friday this week​.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio spoke Wednesday about the erosion of democracy in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Right now, there is also a White House petition to sanction President Ortega for human rights violations.