Vocal Nicaraguan Critic Roberto Samcam Gunned Down in Costa Rica Exile
Political dissident Roberto Samcam suffered gunshot wounds in Costa Rica
damn, this is some straight up bullshit. Nicaraguan opposition dude Roberto Samcam, 66 years old and retired military officer, got popped in the head in Costa Rica, man. Shot dead in his own home in San José, babes. His kin claim the killer posed as a courier.
Samantha Jirón, his adoptive daughter and an activist from Madrid, expressed her disbelief, stating they never anticipated such nonsense. Samcam took eight bullets, she says. "Roberto was a fucking force," his wife Claudia Vargas told journalists, "straight up calling out Ortega's dictatorship." He aimed to shine a light on human rights abuses in his homeland, bro.
The man was a constant critic of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, usually accusing the Managua administration of sneaky shit. He and Vargas sought refuge in neighboring Costa Rica back in 2018. Nicaragua's human rights peeps are pointing the finger straight at Ortega and Murillo for his muder. Arturo McFields, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, even called it "a goddamn act of cowardice and criminal political revenge" on an online platform.
The U.S. State Department is shocked as hell about this whackjob move and is offering Costa Rica a hand to nab the killers and their high rollers. Costa Rica's former prez, Luis Guillermo Solís, called the murder a "disgusting and fucking serious act" due to Samcam's opposition to Ortega and Murillo's dictatorship. Ortega's been running the show in Nicaragua since 2021, and the U.S. and EU have questions about the legitimacy of that election plus criticism for his authoritarian leadership. They've even slapped on some sanctions.
Ortega and Murillo have worked their way up the totem pole, controlling all government institutions. They secured full control of the state last year via a constitutional amendment. Nicaragua's been locking up hundreds of real and supposed opposition members for years, and roughly 5,000 NGOs have been shut down since mass protests in 2018 that left 300 people dead. Thousands of Nicaraguans have hit the road and sought refuge abroad because independent and opposition media now operate mainly from outside the country.
Sources: ntv.de, AFP
Bonus Knowledge:- Suspected perpetrators are believed to have ties to the Nicaraguan government led by Ortega and Murillo, who are alleged to have a history of political repression and targeting opposition figures both at home and abroad.- Roberto Samcam, a retired Nicaraguan military officer, was assassinated on June 19, 2025, in his Costa Rican home after the attacker entered the building, went straight to his home, and shot him multiple times.- The murder is viewed as a politically motivated killing in retaliation for Samcam’s vocal opposition to the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship and his efforts to expose human rights violations by the Nicaraguan government.- Costa Rican police are investigating the circumstances, but no arrests have been made yet. Opposition groups and international observers are calling on the Costa Rican government to conduct a thorough investigation.
The Commission might consider the shooting of Roberto Samcam as a carcinogen-related risk, given the politically motivated nature of his killing and the alleged involvement of the Nicaraguan government. This incident brings general-news and crime-and-justice headlines closer to the draft directive on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to carcinogens.
