Costa Rica shouldn’t be an accomplice to Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s violations of their peoples’ human rights.
By Miguel Angel Rodriguez* (Confidencial)
HAVANA TIMES – On February 16, Douglas Gamaliel Alvarez was extradited to Nicaragua. A similar request for extradition is currently in process for Reinaldo Picado Miranda. In addition, a recognized Nicaragua legal authority that collaborates with the Nicaraguan dictatorship has issued a warrant for the arrest of Gabriel Leonidas Putoy, who also has an Interpol warrant out for him.
These processes should call into action all lovers of human rights, to keep Costa Rica from contributing to the violation of Nicaraguans’ fundamental freedoms.
These three Nicaraguans have publicly opposed the authoritarian regime in Nicaragua. The first two are rural leaders that confronted the Ortega-Murillo regime, then found themselves forced to leave their country due to the violent repression with which the Nicaraguan government squelched the anti-government demonstrations of April 2018, leaving a trail of 355 dead. The three all filed petitions for refugee status in Costa Rica but were denied it in 2019. Gabriel Putoy, formerly a math teacher, was a political prisoner in Nicaragua for nearly a year and was granted refugee status in April 2023.
However, when the Costa Rican police received an extradition request for Douglas Alvarez and Reinaldo Picado from the Nicaraguan police, both were detained in October 2023, in compliance with the simple request form.
Their lawyer then filed a petition for political asylum that halted the simple police handover process. Unfortunately, that request was quickly denied, and the process then continued in the courts.
Three concerns regarding extraditions to Nicaragua
From these very worrisome events, I foresee three consequences, each paired with a related request:
The first concern and request, and the most u
