More than 70 exiled Nicaraguans demanded international protection on Friday following the shooting death in Costa Rica of retired army officer Roberto Samcam, a prominent critic of the Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo government. Major Roberto Samcam, 66, was gunned down Thursday morning at his home in a suburb of San José by unidentified assailants. Nicaraguan exile activists blame the Managua government for the killing.
“His voice has been brutally silenced, but his example urges us even more strongly to demand respect for life, justice, and international protection for those of us who are persecuted,” said a statement issued by opposition leaders, journalists, and activists living in exile in various countries.
Signatories include writer Gioconda Belli, activist Samantha Jirón (Samcam’s adoptive daughter), former diplomat Arturo McFields, and journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, son of former Nicaraguan President Violeta Chamorro (1990–1997), who died Saturday in Costa Rica.
The group recalled the killings of other exiled Nicaraguans, such as peasant leader Jaime Luis Ortega Chavarría, murdered in northern Costa Rica in 2024. “These cases confirm the existence of a transnational persecution strategy that violates international law and endangers the lives of those who defend democracy from exile,” the statement added.
The exiles called on Costa Rican authorities for a “thorough, swift, and transparent investigation” into Samcam’s murder. “This crime must not go unpunished or be treated as an isolated incident. We demand a firm and public response, backed by the international community,” they stated.
Ortega, a 79-year-old former guerrilla who returned to power in 2007 after ruling in the 1980s, is accused by critics and human rights groups of establishing a “family dictatorship” with his wife Murillo, 73, who was officially named co-president in February under a constitutional reform.
His government escalated repression after the 2018 protests—seen by Managua as a U.S.-backed coup attempt—which left more than 300 dead according to the UN. In recent years, the Sandinista government has stripped hundreds of critics and opposition members of their Nicaraguan nationality and expelled them from the country.
Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans are now in exile, mainly in Costa Rica, the United States, and Spain.
