QCOSTARICA – The young Nicaraguan opponent against Daniel Ortega in exile in Costa Rica, Joao Maldonado, was seriously injured this Saturday after being shot by two men on a motorcycle while traveling in a vehicle through Escazú.
Maldonado, 34, is the coordinator of the Unidad de Exiliados Nicaragüenses (UEN) – Nicaraguan Exiles Unit – in Costa Rica, and was in the preparations for a demonstration called for this Sunday in San Jose against the Daniel Ortega regime.
Jeffer Bravo, secretary of the UEN, confirmed that the attack occurred at 4:58 pm in front of the evangelical church Casa de Alabanza, in Escazú.
He indicated that, according to the account of a person who accompanied Maldonado, the motorcyclists stopped next to the car and shot several times at the vehicle.
“It was not accidental, as the one who was with him is saying, the motorcycle stopped and began to shoot at the window. That was a targeted attack, the threats are constant towards us.
“In Nicaragua, the voices no longer exist, practically everything (against the Ortega regime) is coming out of exile. The regime has its eyes on people who raise our voices,” Bravo asserted.
The UEN secretary commented that, after the attack, his compatriot continued to drive to a hospital (whose name he did not reveal) to request care.
Bravo did not hesitate to affirm that what happened would be related to the demonstration called for this Sunday.
Around 9 pm, the secretary of the UEN indicated that Maldonado had already come out of surgery and that according to the medical report he was shot four times, one bullet hitting his left arm, another the chest near the heart, another the abdomen and another compromised his intestines.
Maldonado’s condition is delicate.