“He Called to Me, but When I Tried to Get Near They Handcuffed Me”
The Costa Rican government has asked for explanations from the US in the death of Costa Rican Rigoberto Alpízar, at the hands of federal agents. In an interview with Al Día, his brother Carlos retold the story of Alpízar’s wife Anne Beuchner who was with him at the time.
" I didn’t see when they shot him, but I heard the explosions. When I got to where he was, I heard him calling me. It looked like he was conscious, but when I tried to get closer the police stopped me, handcuffed me and put a gun to my head. " Carlos received the call "It was 6 am and she was just arriving home in Orlando. She was very emotional and we only spoke a little. She told me that she was held for over 4 hours in the airport. They did not let her go until they had investigated her whole life, to top things off, their documents had been stolen in Ecuador, so she had no money, no passport, nothing. Her mother had to go pick her up."
Jeanne Jentsch, Anne’s sister read a statement to the international press. "Rigoberto Alpízar was kind, gentle, and giving." In the Alpízar house in Rio Claro Golfito, only pain and uncertainty were present. Nobody had an explanation for the events. Nobody knew anything about his bipolar condition. "Maybe it was something intimate that they kept private as a couple. But he never told us anything about an illness. We never saw any symptoms or sickness either.", said his brother.
Family and friends demanded explanations, and believe that Rigoberto did not deserve to die this way. Carlos said, "I want the whole world to know that my brother was not a terrorist. He loved the United States as much as his own country, he would never do something like that."