Costa Rica says there are no Nicaraguan ‘cells’ operating in country

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By Equipo editorial

The government of Costa Rica denied this Thursday, January 11, that in that country it operated – a cell organized and controlled by the Nicaraguan government, in relation to the statements made by Nicaraguan opponent Joao Maldonado, four months before he was shot by unknown subjects.

There is no indication that there is any cell organized and controlled by the Nicaraguan government in Costa Rica, said the administration of Rodrigo Chaves Robles in a statement.

Maldonado gave such statements last September to the Costa Rican media La Nación, where he also said that here (in Costa Rica) there is a base of the Ortega government, as far as we have information, of people who were participating in the 80s here in Costa Rica, intelligence of the Army, the security of the State that is currently operating here. There has even been not only an attack on me, there was a murder months before a boy, who was released from his job shot him in the back.

The Nicaraguan, a Spanish nationalized after the regime took his nationality, was shot dead on January 10 with his partner, Nadia Robleto, in San José, Costa Rica, where both had taken refuge since 2018.

Maldonado was also the victim of a first attack on 11 September 2021 and had received new threats.

Here you can read the statement of the Costa Rican government

Maldonado is a dissident of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party and, during the interview, said that he was in the shelter and that it was discovered that the attack against him was ordered from Nicaragua and that he was not the first.

Official media from Daniel Ortega’s regime accuse Maldonado of being the perpetrator of the murder of sympathizer Bismarck Martínez, who worked in the mayor’s office of Managua.

THE PRENSA/CORTSY

A case on time.

The communication of the Costa Rican government also details that the crime against the Nicaraguan is a specific case that is investigated by the relevant judicial body as dictated by law and the Government will act in accordance with the findings of this investigation.

In addition, they deny that the Directorate of Intelligence and National Security (DIS) intervened a house related to this case, and emphasizes that this body has no legal competence to provide protection and protection to Mr. Maldonado or to any other person.

The Government of Costa Rica guarantees the security of all citizens, including those on refugee and asylum-seekers, the statement was also read.

Seven bullets

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) reported on Thursday that opponent Maldonado was shot seven times during the attack against him.

When carrying out the approach, it was confirmed that the victims are Nicaraguan nationals and that the 34-year-old male had 7 gunshot wounds to various parts of his body, such as chest and head, while the 36-year-old woman had a gunshot wound at the level of her head, the authorities detailed.

This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in La Prensa NI