Costa Rican authorities report shooting of Nicaraguan critic Roberto Samcam.
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The shocking death of 66-year-old Roberto Samcam, a prominent Nicaraguan opposition figure, has left the world stunned. Samcam, a retired officer and vocal critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, was brutally murdered in his home in San José, Costa Rica, on Thursday. The gunmen, disguised as delivery men, were the suspected perpetrators [1][2].
"This is beyond our expectations, it's just too unbelievable," said Samcam's adopted daughter, activist Samantha Jirón, in an AFP statement from her Madrid residence. She revealed that her father was shot eight times. Claudia Vargas, Samcam's wife, shared the tragic news with journalists in San José, mourning her husband as a "bold voice" who directly confronted Ortega's reign and worked tirelessly to expose human rights abuses in Nicaragua [2].
Known for his political analyses, Samcam frequently criticized Ortega's government in Managua. After fleeing to neighboring Costa Rica in 2018, Nicaraguan human rights organizations accused Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo, of orchestrating Samcam's murder [2]. "This is an act of cowardice and austere political retribution by the Nicaraguan dictatorship," wrote former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, Arturo McFields, now residing in exile in the US, on the online platform X.
The United States State Department expressed shock at Samcam's murder on X and offered Costa Rica aid in bringing the culprits and their masters to justice. Costa Rica's former president, Luis Guillermo Solís, denounced the murder as "a repugnant and extremely serious act due to Samcam's unyielding opposition to the Ortega and Murillo dictatorship" [2]. Ortega assumed his fourth consecutive term in Nicaragua in 2021, with allegations of sham elections and an authoritarian regime surfacing from both the US and the European Union.
Since assuming power, Ortega and Murillo have gradually seized control of every state institution. They've jailed hundreds of real and perceived opponents, silencing dissent, and orchestrating a major clampdown on NGOs, media, and opposition parties [4]. NGO closures, politically motivated attacks on exiled opposition figures, and the murder of vocal critics illustrate the seemingly unrelenting political persecution in Nicaragua.
Sources:
- ntv.de
- AFP
- UNAMOS
- Various enrichment data
The Commission, in light of the brutal assassination of Roberto Samcam, may consider involving itself in the drafting of a directive that protects workers from the risks associated with political persecution, similar to the risks related to exposure to carcinogens. This incident, Coupled with the political climate in Nicaragua, can be seen as a topic of discussion under general news, war-and-conflicts, politics, crime-and-justice, and international human rights.
