Nicaraguan exiles blame Ortega's regime for attacks and threats, as he secures fifth term in office

Ortega was as soon as a revolutionary. He himself took energy after serving to overthrow dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle, however has spent the previous few years cracking down brutally on dissenting voices.In June, Ortega's authorities started utilizing a imprecise nationwide safety regulation as justification to lock up opposition presidential candidates, opposition leaders, journalists, human rights activists and others forward of this month's election. Dozens have been hauled off to El Chipote, the infamous jail the place Ortega himself was incarcerated as a younger man in the Seventies.Ordinary residents now dwell in concern of each the federal government and of one another, in response to the dozen individuals inside Nicaragua who spoke to CNN. Neighbors hardly ever speak politics anymore for concern of being denounced as a traitor, they stated.

A rising variety of critics each inside and exterior the nation say the one answer now's for the worldwide group to intervene, with proposals starting from rising sanctions to reducing off diplomatic relations. But the regime's marketing campaign to silence critics doesn't cease at Nicaragua's borders -- Costa Rican authorities sources and anecdotal proof that brokers of the Ortega regime have been stalking and threatening outspoken Nicaraguan exiles and, in some circumstances, are believed to have carried out bodily violence overseas. Detailed questions despatched to the Nicaraguan authorities and to the office of Vice President Rosario Murillo's office -- Ortega's spouse and regime spokeswoman -- weren't acknowledged or answered.

'Is tomorrow an execution?'

It was round 8pm on October 2 in San José, Costa Rica, and Berenice Zeledón had misplaced her cellular phone. She'd simply left the flower store owned by her shut buddy and fellow Nicaraguan Rayza Hope, in order that they each rotated and went again inside to look for it.As quickly as Berenice reached her cellphone, the pair heard the steel door shut behind them. A person had entered the store, hooded and masked. His proper hand-held a pistol, introduced stage in a swift movement.Rayza anticipated a theft. But she stated their attacker spoke with a Nicaraguan accent and already knew their names. "At first I thought he was there to assault us," she stated. "But then he said, 'You need to stop f**king around, mother f**kers.' Then I knew it was something else."CNN agreed to make use of pseudonyms for each girls to guard their identities.The pair begged him to not harm them. But he began to strangle Rayza and pistol whipped her as she fell unconscious, the ladies later informed police. He then attacked Berenice, shoving her to the bottom with sufficient drive that X-rays would present a fractured proper knee."The first thing I thought about was my son," stated Berenice, tears sliding down her face. "This man is so determined; he's going to kill us."But ultimately, the person left. He stole nothing.When Rayza regained consciousness and spoke to Berenice, they each suspected the identical factor -- that an agent of the Nicaraguan state had attacked them. That is what they informed police after they filed a prison report.

Both girls are comparatively outstanding in the Nicaraguan exile group in San José, a gaggle whose numbers have surged just lately. Each is a vocal critic of the Ortega regime and participated in the nation's anti-regime protests in 2018.Rayza can also be a musician and has written and carried out songs essential of the regime. Her Facebook web page is plagued by pictures of her attending protests and marches calling for Ortega's elimination from office."I feel like people are watching me," stated Berenice. "I no longer feel safe. He was clear. It was a warning to stop f**king around. So, what happens tomorrow? Is it no longer a warning? Is tomorrow an execution?"CNN can't confirm if the attacker was Nicaraguan and Costa Rica police wouldn't touch upon the case.Tens of 1000's of Nicaraguans have fled their homeland and settled in Costa Rica to keep away from persecution since 2018, when the federal government brutally cracked down on widespread anti-regime protests -- the start of a brand new escalation in political repression in the nation.Now the Ortega regime is following them throughout the border, they are saying.

The Costa Rican authorities denies that any such incursions into its territory have occurred. "We have always been very vigilant on our borders," stated Jorge Torres, Director of Costa Rica's Intelligence and Security Directorate, the nation's principal intelligence group. "We are always maintaining a conversation [with Nicaragua] that shows respect to each other's sovereignty. We would not permit this type of threat."But a senior authorities official in Costa Rica with deep information of the state of affairs informed CNN that Nicaraguan intelligence operatives are certainly at present working in his nation -- and that their numbers have risen for the reason that 2018 widespread exodus. Many of the operatives goal Nicaraguan exiles, he stated.

"Yes, of course this is happening, I am completely sure that this is happening," stated the official. "We have evidence that they come here to do intelligence in Costa Rica and send the information to the government of Nicaragua."His authorities is hesitant to talk out publicly on the difficulty for concern of damaging diplomatic relations at a tenuous time, he additionally stated.Nicaraguan human rights teams say they too have recorded dozens of suspected regime-sponsored attacks in Costa Rica in current years, although proving the Nicaraguan authorities is behind them is close to unimaginable.More than a half-dozen exiles on the office of Unidad de Exiliados de Nicaraguenses, a Nicaraguan human rights group based mostly in Costa Rica, informed CNN they'd obtained threats.The group's chief, Yefer Bravo, stated his home had even been shot up by unknown assailants in 2019 in an assault he believes was carried out by Nicaraguan state brokers. He stated he had beforehand been receiving threats online previous to the taking pictures.He reported the assault to Costa Rican police on the time however stated no suspects had been ever discovered or arrested. Police wouldn't touch upon his case. "The threats have become more direct and concrete," stated Bravo. "I am constantly moving the locations where I live."His group additionally confronted rising harassment in the months main as much as Sunday's elections. The threats primarily come online and do not turn out to be bodily, he stated. Nevertheless, they usually paralyze their recipients with concern.

Insults, stalking and dying threats

Jorge, who requested CNN to withhold his final identify as a consequence of security considerations, was energetic throughout anti-government protests in 2018 in his native Granada, a picturesque metropolis south of Managua, the place he was an energetic member of the Catholic Church. He was additionally a outstanding determine in his neighborhood -- which is why, he believes, Nicaraguan police arrested him in January 2019. He was held for seven days in a police jail cell the place he says he was tortured and interrogated. He supplied CNN an image of his leg, the place a clearly seen scar throughout almost his total thigh reads "Plomo." It means "lead" in Spanish and is usually used as a dying risk, together with in Nicaragua the place it's generally used as an acronym for a pro-government slogan, 'Patria Libre O Morir' -- Free Fatherland Or Death. Jorge says police carved it into his leg with a razor blade.

Police by no means formally charged him with a criminal offense, he stated. The Nicaraguan authorities didn't reply to CNN's questions on his case.Nothing felt regular after his launch. "I was scared of any motorcycle passing by, any car, any noise. I was practically a prisoner in the place...I didn't even leave my room," stated Jorge.Just a few months later, he says police returned to his rental residence and spray painted it with the phrases 'SI JODES, TE MORIS' -- if you happen to F**Ok AROUND, YOU DIE.His landlord promptly evicted him. Jorge fled to Guatemala the place he says he felt secure till a photograph appeared in his Facebook Messenger inbox, from an account he says belonged to a regime collaborator. The picture confirmed him standing on the bus cease in Guatemala that he used daily to get to work."You thought the Guatemalans would take care of you...You and your family are going to pay in blood," the accompanying textual content learn.Jorge and his household fled once more, this time even additional north, to Mexico. He spoke to CNN from an undisclosed location. "My family and I do not feel safe because we know what they can do. We wouldn't be the first or the last Nicaraguan to be murdered outside the country," stated Jorge.The household of 5 is basically residing in limbo, together with his spouse and 4 daughters, ages 20, 14, 12 and 8 questioning what's subsequent.The most up-to-date risk he obtained got here only a few weeks in the past. Jorge had added his identify to a listing of migrants, organized by a Mexican non-profit group, who had been hoping to discover a solution to legally journey to the United States. An image of that checklist, which confirmed his identify and his nation of origin, was once more despatched to his Facebook account."Hey, coup-plotter, did you think we weren't going to find you? You and your family are going to pay for trying to bring down [Daniel Ortega]," learn the accompanying textual content. CNN has no solution to confirm if the accounts that despatched these footage are linked to the Nicaraguan authorities.The Nicaraguan authorities does seem to help a strong social media presence by means of troll factories, nonetheless. Meta stated final week it just lately uncovered a government-backed troll farm and eliminated almost 1,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts related to selling pro-government content material whereas attacking opposition accounts.

With one other term secured, the place does it go from right here?

If these are the strategies already employed by the Ortega regime, what would possibly Nicaraguans inside and exterior of the nation anticipate from a regime newly emboldened by its victory on the polls this weekend and one other 5 years in office?"It could possibly get worse...if the government of Daniel Ortega stays in power," stated the senior Costa Rican authorities official. "Things will get worse. I don't think they would get better."

For so many Nicaraguans who described harassment and concern to CNN, there is just one method out of the nightmare: A coordinated stress marketing campaign from the Nicaraguan diaspora and worldwide group to carry actual, free elections in their residence nation, or else drive the Ortega regime to relinquish energy fully.Gone are their hopes for inside, democratic stress. In the present local weather of intimidation, protesters in Nicaragua are banned from filling the streets, opposition candidates are swiftly arrested, and newspapers can't report the reality with out concern of retribution.The stress should come externally, says Bravo, the pinnacle of Unidad de Exiliados Nicaraguenses. No matter the threats that he and his fellow exiles would possibly obtain, there's a sense of responsibility amongst them -- a sense that they're accountable for the route of their nation and the lives of their countrymen nonetheless inside."If we don't do anything for Nicaragua, if we don't raise our voices to the international community, if we don't pressure the United Nations, the [Organization of American States], the US Congress, the European Union, to make it clear what is happening in Nicaragua, who else will do it?"