(qCOSTARICA) – Upset and indignant is the reaction by former President Laura Chinchilla following reports of Costa Ricans being held detained and even imprisoned in the infamous El Chipote by the government Daniel Ortega, in Nicaragua.
The former president’s reaction refers to a publication in La Nacion Sunday, the story of Ed Jose Tiffer Campos, who recounted his experience in crossing into Nicaragua, on May 6 of this year, being detained and then tortured while being held prisoner at Nicaragua’s most notorious prison.
Tiffer told La Nacion that on this occasion he was visiting his dying aunt and carrying more than US$1,700 in cash, to help out with the funeral arrangements. Tiffer, an Alajuela businessman, said he was surprised at the action of Nicaraguan authorities, something he had never seen before in his previous border crossings.
In his account, he tells of how, at the Peñas Blancas immigration post, he was detained along with a group of tourists, including Cubans, Spaniards, Swiss, Mexicans and some Americans entering Nicaragua. Tiffer says he was questioned as to why he was consorting with the Americans. The man says he the reasons for his detainment kept changing, from bein accused to helping Cubans get to the U.S., to his paperwork not being order, to whatever they could thing of, but never giving him a real reason.
After 34 days of confinement, without any charges against him, Tiffer said he was held in a two by three metre cell, half-naked and inhumane conditions, Nicaraguan authorities dropped him off at the border without explanation.[su_pullquote class=”H2″] Click here for the La Nacion video of Tiffer’s account[/su_pullquote]
On her Facebook page, doña Laura says “the background (in this case) is even more dramatic. It is of a country kidnapped by a corrupt and totalitarian regime, which violates not only the rights of foreigners, but the rights of the Nicaraguan people.”
“A regime that engages in illegal detentions, alteration of documents, persecution of opponents and prepare once again to organize rigged elections, without adequate international control. This is not only chronicles the kidnapping of a Tico. It is a kidnapping of an entire nation,” continues Laura Chinchilla.
Chinchilla, during her administration (2010 – 2014) had strong clashes with Ortega, including the Isla Calero “alleged” invasion by Ortega’s administration, a case that is currently before the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
The El Chipote prison dates back to the era of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, opening its doors in 1934. Despite the call from human rights organizations to shut it down, the Ortega government continues to operate, in fact, by all accounts, expanding it.
Another Tico, Daniel Gil, is still being held in Nicaragua. That case, however, is based on a different set of circumstances, the man wanted on an Interpol warrant issued by Mexico on tax fraud. But, it doesn’t deny the fact that the Tico is being mistreated while he awaits the process of Mexico’s extradition request.
In Tiffer’s story, he claims of Nicaraguan officials insulting him, telling him Costa Rica is a puppet of the United States and outward aggression of their political opinions of Laura Chinchilla.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 23 Ticos are currently being held in Nicarauga.
Source: La Nacion, Facebook
This statement is simply false: “Chinchilla, during her administration (2010 – 2014) had strong clashes with Ortega.”
In reality, Chinchilla refused every invitation Ortega extended to her to talk in favor of playing the victim and traveling the globe badmouthing him. Since she never talked to him, she never had the chance to clash with him–much less to (duh) reach negotiated agreements with him in areas of dispute.
Chinchilla is behaving the same way now. Based upon one news story that itself is reported irresponsibly, she is publicly badmouthing Ortega again.
Regarding the story in La Nación, it is based on only one source–the Tico prisoner’s own story! I would imagine that if reporters walked into any prison in the world and interviewed only the inmates, they would end up with stories about how all the inmates are innocent. In fact, in this La Nación story, all the inmates are innocent! Are we supposed to believe that everyone in prison in Nicaragua is an innocent victim of auhoritarian repression?
Making the story in La Nación even less credible is its stating that innocent US citizens are incarcerated too.
Hold the fort, Uncle Sam doesn’t tolerate this. It retaliates fiercely, up to and including sending in the Marines. Even when the imprisoned US citizen is likely guilty of murder (Voltz), Uncle Sam ends up getting him out.
I therefore find it hard to believe that innocent gringos are languishing in Nicaraguan prisons, and since I find this hard to believe, I’m not sure I believe that innocent Ticos are either.
My guess (and you have to guess, since there are no facts) is that this was a case of mistaken identity in which the falsely accused didn’t help himself by lipping off. My further guess is that once the Nicaraguan bureaucrats and authorities realized that they had made a mistake, they said nothing to anyone and conveniently misplaced the paperwork. This tactic of officials avoiding responsibility is a common one in Costa Rica too, as most people who have gone through the immigration process know. Instead of just admitting to and correcting a mistake, officials say nothing and conveniently lose the paperwork documenting it.
Anyway, odds are that it was a screw up followed by a cover up, none of which justifies it, but none of which justifies Chinchilla grandstanding once again.
IMO, Chinchilla bears the most responsibility for this and other tensions with Nicaragua. If she had just had the guts to sit down and negotiate with Ortega when she was president rather than refusing his offers to talk, I’m sure that most of these tensions would have eased. At the same time, had she negotiated with Ortega and gained no ground, I would today be on her side. But I don’t think you can refuse to talk to the president of a neighboring country while repeatedly publicly insulting him and expect to get along. Rather, I think you can expect more incidents like the current one erupting, with such poor communication between the countries that the stories have to be written on the basis of only the testimony of the self-proclaimed victim.
BTW, how many Nicas do you suppose are sitting in Costa Rica’s jails based upon vague and shifting accusations?