Freedom House • Most have participated in protests since 2018 • Many helped with the provision of food, supplies, safe houses, and medicines • They are doctors and other health personnel • They made public complaints about the authoritarian behavior of the regime • Some are journalists • Some are former soldiers and police officers who refused to participate in the repressive acts ordered by the government Our case study also found that Nicaraguan HRDs in Costa Rica fall into two main clusters. First, those who worked in defense of human rights prior to April 2018, such as women defenders, activists, members of CSOs, and leaders of social movements (women’s movements, trade unions, peasant leaders, activists of the LGTBIQ+ communities and journalists). Second, those who can trace back their human rights work to the Indio Maíz protests and April 2018, who are mostly students, youth from barrios and urban neighborhoods, doctors and healthcare workers, and former military and police. According to the interviews and focus groups, Nicaraguan HRDs in Costa Rica came from practically all over the country, but mainly from three municipalities (Masaya, Carazo, and Managua). Although there were also some HRDs from the so-called canal zone (area where the interoceanic canal would supposedly be), like Rivas, Lago of Nicaragua, Río San Juan, Chontales, and Zelaya Central. While Venezuelan HRDs in Colombia fled their homes for a range of reasons (humanitarian crisis, violence and direct threats), most of the Nicaraguan HRDs in Costa Rica have left to escape direct threats by the government for doing their work. As such, these case studies nourished a hypothesis that Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, including HRDs more often prioritize finding any source of income “I consider myself a human rights defender for my work defending citizens who have been criminalized for political reasons and for pointing out the acts of repression exercised by the government against its opponents.” (Nicaraguan HRD in Costa Rica.) to achieve economic stability and redress from Venezuela’s critical economic crisis. Nicaraguan HRDs in Cost Rica who fled political persecution directly, on the other hand, are more likely to search specifically for work related to the defense of human rights and civic activism. Future inquiries of the two phenomena, can corroborate this hypothesis and further investigate the impact in the lives of the HRDs in exile. The interviews with over 20 HRDs, focus groups with 24 HRDs, and the survey conducted with 20 Nicaraguan HRDs in Costa Rica revealed that the vast majority reported they experienced direct threats. The most common type of threats were harassment, potential of violence, and warnings (see Graph 1 below). How do HRDs settle in Costa Rica? HRDs coming from Nicaragua first must interact with Costa Rican authorities as they cross the border and when they settle into their new surroundings. Those who cross over the land borders often apply as a refugee, under the new category announced in December 2020, or “Currently I work in the defense of human rights of migrant populations, especially of political refugee seeking asylum in Costa Rica. My work is in documenting cases of human rights violations to victims of torture in the context of protests in Nicaragua.” (Nicaraguan HRD in Costa Rica.) FreedomHouse.org 9