• Press Release

Costa Rica: Attack on television station is deeply concerning

July 30, 2019

Last Saturday, an improvised explosive device exploded in front of the premises of Teletica, in San José de Costa Rica, causing material damage to the front of the building. Since January, the Nicaraguan journalist Carlos F. Chamorro has been presenting his programme Esta Semana from this Costa Rican television station, because of fears for his life inside Nicaragua, where he has suffered attacks and threats in response to his criticism of Daniel Ortega’s government.

Concerned that the explosion might have been a response to the broadcasting of the Nicaraguan journalist’s programme from Teletica, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International said:

“The possibility that this attack could be related to the work carried out by the Confidencial team and Carlos F. Chamorro at Teletica is deeply concerning. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would show just how far Daniel Ortega’s government is prepared to go to silence the voices that are courageously informing the world about what is happening in Nicaragua. The Costa Rican government must identify and prosecute the material and intellectual authors of this incident, which is probably an attack on the freedom of expression, and pursue all possible lines of inquiry.”