The activist had received “at least” three shots, he said, adding that the causes of the attack against the former Central American judo champion were unknown and that until April 2018 he had worked with Ortega, whom he resigned to join the protests against him. .
Maldonado’s wife, Nadia Robleto, told Reuters that the renowned leader of the 2018 demonstrations in Jinotepe, south of the Nicaraguan capital, he had received four shots in the intestines, lungs and the right arm.
The secretary of the so-called Nicaraguan Exile Unit in Costa Rica (UEN), Yefer Bravo, to which Maldonado belongs, attributed the attack to hitmen hired by Daniel Ortega, who will seek to stay in power in the Central American nation for the fourth consecutive period in the elections presidential from November.
“We continue to fight despite the distance and the threats. Clearly those two boys were hired to execute him because there in my country they have silenced the voices and now we resist from exile,” said Bravo.
More than 80,000 Nicaraguans have requested refuge in Costa Rica since the 2018 protests, but the requests have risen a lot in the last three months due to the hardening of the official repression against activists and opposition politicians.
In the last three months, Daniel Ortega has stopped a 35 leaders The opposition has suspended a rival party and withheld newsprint, among other tactics that UN, US and European officials have called abuse of power to stifle free speech and free elections.
