Space Industry and Business News
DEMOCRACY
Critic of Nicaragua's Ortega shot dead in exile in Costa Rica
Critic of Nicaragua's Ortega shot dead in exile in Costa Rica
by AFP Staff Writers
Moravia, Costa Rica (AFP) June 20, 2025

A retired Nicaraguan army officer in exile who fiercely criticized authoritarian President Daniel Ortega was shot dead Thursday in neighboring Costa Rica, his family and officials said.

Major Roberto Samcam, 66, was gunned down at his apartment building in San Jose, reportedly by men pretending to deliver a package.

"It was something we did not expect, we could not have imagined it," Samantha Jiron, Samcam's adoptive daughter, told AFP from her home in Madrid.

Nicaraguan rights groups and exiled dissidents immediately blamed the government of Ortega and his co-president wife Rosario Murillo.

"Roberto was a powerful voice" who "directly denounced the dictatorship" of Ortega, Samcam's wife Claudia Vargas told reporters in San Jose as she fought back tears.

His job, she said, was to "expose human rights violations" in his homeland.

The head of Costa Rica's judicial police, Randall Zuniga, said that the attackers took advantage of the fact that Samcam's apartment building was unguarded in the mornings.

The gunman "called out to... Roberto," who "approached without knowing" the danger, Zuniga said.

"When he was within striking range, the individual began shooting at him and hit him at least eight times," he told reporters.

The Nicaraguan news site Confidencial reported that the killers fled the scene by motorbike.

The US State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on X that it was "shocked" by Samcam's murder and offered Costa Rica help in "holding the assassins and those behind them accountable."

Nicaragua's former ambassador to the Organization of American States, Arturo McFields, who lives in exile in the United States, called the killing "an act of cowardice and criminal political revenge by the dictatorship of Nicaragua."

"The manner of the crime indicates political motives. This is very serious," Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli, exiled in Spain, stated on X.

Neither Ortega nor his government commented on the case.

Samcam, who was a political analyst, had spoken out frequently against the government in Managua, which he fled in 2018 to live with his wife in Costa Rica.

That year, protests against Ortega's government were violently repressed, resulting in more than 300 deaths, according to the UN.

In January last year, another Nicaraguan opposition activist living in Costa Rica, Joao Maldonado, was shot while driving with his girlfriend in San Jose. Both were seriously wounded.

While the motive of that attack was the object of much speculation, Samcam's killing fueled suspicion among Nicaraguans that it may also have been linked to his political activities.

- 'Night of long knives' -

Former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solis called Samcam's murder "for his frontal opposition to the Ortega and Murillo dictatorship" an "outrageous and extremely serious act."

"I feel that Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are initiating a 'Night of the Long Knives'... due to the regime's weakening," Dora Maria Tellez, a former associate of Ortega turned critic, said from Spain, where she too is in exile.

The "Night of the Long Knives" was a bloody purge of rivals ordered by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1934.

"They resort to the execution of a retired ex-military officer, whom they believe has a voice that resonates within the ranks of the army," Tellez told the Nicaraguan news outlet 100% Noticias.

Ortega, now 79, first served as president from 1985 to 1990 as a former guerrilla hero who had helped oust a brutal US-backed regime.

Returning to power in 2007, he became ever more authoritarian, according to observers, jailing hundreds of opponents, real and perceived, in recent years.

Ortega's government has shut down more than 5,000 non-governmental organizations since the 2018 mass protests that he considered a US-backed coup attempt.

Thousands of Nicaraguans have fled into exile, and the regime is under US and EU sanctions.

Most independent and opposition media operate from abroad.

Pro-government media in Nicaragua did not report on Samcam's killing.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DEMOCRACY
Trump uses US army birthday to lash out over LA protests
Fort Bragg, United States (AFP) June 10, 2025
President Donald Trump turned a trip marking the US army's 250th birthday into a political-style rally Tuesday, wrapping himself in martial symbolism as he defended his decision to send soliders to protest-hit Los Angeles. The US commander-in-chief goaded troops to boo political opponents and the media and called protesters "animals" in what was meant to be a non-partisan event at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the country's biggest military installation. The Republican president meanwhile reinfo ... read more

DEMOCRACY
Toxic legacies of mining scar South Africa's Soweto and contaminate Thai rivers from Myanmar operations

New Zealand targets leadership in superconducting space tech with new research alliance

Trump pocketed over $57 mn from crypto coin sales

Decarbonizing steel is as tough as steel

DEMOCRACY
Skynet 6A military satellite advances with successful module integration

Skynet 6A reaches integration milestone as Airbus prepares next-gen military satellite

Enveil Secures DIU Contract to Advance Hybrid Space Architecture Data Capabilities

Retired four-star US admiral convicted on corruption charges

DEMOCRACY
DEMOCRACY
Bogong moths rely on stars and magnetic fields to guide epic migrations

Breakthrough hybrid model restores orbit accuracy for BeiDou-3 satellites

SpaceX launches advanced GPS satellite for Space Force

Satellites Enhance Navigation Safety on the Mersey with Cutting-Edge Tidal Mapping

DEMOCRACY
Greenwashing rife in EU aviation: consumer groups

Boeing says focus at air show on 'supporting customers', not orders

Turkey to export 48 fighter jets to Indonesia: Erdogan

India, China to 'expedite' restarting direct flights

DEMOCRACY
Malaysia verifying report of Chinese firm bypassing US tech curbssnow

Smaller smarter sensor delivers precision vacuum measurement across vast pressure range

Taiwan adds China's Huawei, SMIC to export blacklist

New technique links aromatic rings for cleaner production of high-tech materials

DEMOCRACY
NASA scientists find ties between Earth's oxygen and magnetic field

China expands disaster monitoring with launch of Zhangheng 1B satellite

ICEYE radar imaging added to SkyFi satellite data platform

Space lasers, AI used by geospatial scientist to measure forest biomass

DEMOCRACY
S.Africa's gold mining past poisons Soweto; as toxic Myanmar mines pollute rivers in Thailand

Study: Wars with Hamas and Iran pose health risks for all Israelis

Longer exposure, more pollen: climate change worsens allergies

Toxic threat from 'forever chemicals' sparks resistance in Georgia towns

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.