Costa Rica sent Tuesday “its most energetic and resounding protest” to the government of Daniel Ortega for the alleged incursion of Nicaraguan military in Costa Rican territory, where they killed a man they were persecuting.
The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) attributed the death of a 24-year-old Nicaraguan man in the town of Pueblo Nuevo, in Pocosol de San Carlos, Costa Rica, in the border area, to the Nicaraguan Army.
Apparently, the deceased man of Nicaraguan origin was being persecuted by members of the Nicaraguan army, witnesses said.
The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry has demanded from the Nicaraguan Government explanations for the events that occurred on Monday morning, in a note delivered by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lorena Aguilar, to the Nicaraguan ambassador in San José, Duilio Hernández.
The note indicates that an investigation by the OIJ verified that six Nicaraguan soldiers entered some 150 meters into Costa Rican territory, where they killed a man identified as Rubén Loáisiga of Nicaraguan nationality.
“In addition to the murder that was committed on Costa Rican soil by Nicaraguan officials, the entry of Nicaraguan military into the Costa Rican territory constitutes a serious violation of territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” adds the note, which indicates that Nicaragua’s uniformed soldiers returned immediately to their country.
Likewise, Costa Rica demands guarantees from Managua that a similar event will not be repeated.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua rejected “the unfounded assertions of the authorities of the Government of Costa Rica” and points to this country of “manipulating the occurrence of a common crime with false accusations.”
Nicaraguan authorities, in a statement Tuesday night, said that on the morning of Monday, August 26, at 10:15 am, Rubén Amado Loáisiga Rodríguez, aka Pata de Lora, was one of four armed individuals involved in a robbery in the Pocosol area.
The statement adds that the Nicaraguan Police are investigating the case, because they learned of the statements made by Costa Rica government officials of the death of the Nicaraguan man and that it had occurred in Costa Rican territory.
The statement does not mention the responsibility of the Army of Nicaragua in the death of Loaisiga, saying it rejected “the manipulation of information that Costa Rican authorities have carried out.”
President Alvarado calls for calm
Costa Rica’s President Carlos Alvarado made it clear that his government is pursuing diplomatic channels to “determine the truth of the facts about the situation” and has called on the citizenry to “not fall into unnecessary alerts and concerns about the new altercations between Costa Rica and Nicaragua”.
Alvarado assures that his government is focused on guaranteeing national sovereignty through diplomatic and peaceful means.
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