The Costa Rican Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) showed, for the first time, a video of the attempted murder against the opponent of the Ortega regime and Nicaraguan exile João Maldonado, occurred on September 11, 2021 in Escazú. With the disclosure of the images, the Costa Rican authorities hope that the population will help them identify the subjects involved.
The recording shows a subject on a motorcycle following a red Nissan Frontier truck. On the road the vehicle stops, a man gets out and gets on the motorcycle that is stopped in parallel.
The two men aboard the motorcycle chased the white vehicle in which Maldonado was traveling and fired several shots at it.
The Costa Rican authorities have asked the population that, if they have any information about the motorcycle or the subjects, they contact 800-8000-645, an official and confidential OIJ line.
A police investigator assured that the subjects initially fired from the left side of the vehicle. Once he stopped, the men stood in front of the opponent and fired “at least three times, wounding him in his clavicle, abdomen, and forearm.”
Photo: Courtesy
They have not identified the motive of the fact
Maldonado survived the attack, which at the time, his relatives pointed out, could be a reprisal for his political activism against the Daniel Ortega regime. However, more than a year after the fact and various investigations, the OIJ has not been able to identify the “exact motive”.
The opponent participated in the organization and defense of the roadblocks in Carazo in 2018, during the rebellion against the Ortega y Murillo regime. He went into exile in Costa Rica after “Operation Cleanup,” which occurred on July 8 of that year.
Joao is the son of Tomás Maldonado (RIP), former major of the Sandinista Popular Army of Nicaragua, political prisoner of the regime in 2018 and released through an amnesty.
Nadia Robleto, Maldonado’s partner, assured in 2021 that whenever he gave interviews, he received threats through social networks.
“There are always people who tell him that they are going to kill him, that they already have him located, but yes, we are clear that this is something political,” he said at the time, ruling out any relationship between the fact and common or other crime.
When the attack occurred, Maldonado, 34, was preparing a demonstration against the Ortega regime in Costa Rica. It is not the first time that Nicaraguan exiles say they have been threatened by fanatics of the Sandinista Front in Costa Rica. However, authorities continue to investigate.
