The elected president of Costa Rica, Laura Fernández Delgado, publicly supported and took ownership of the decision to close the Costa Rican embassy in Cuba and requested that the regime withdraw its diplomatic personnel from San José.
The measure was announced this Wednesday by President Rodrigo Chaves and provoked an immediate reaction from Miguel Díaz-Canel. The Cuban leader attributed the decision to "obvious pressures from the United States government," in what he described as an offensive to isolate Cuba on the international stage.
However, Laura Fernández stated in front of Noticias Trivisión that the breakup is due to political principles and not external pressures.
"It is a decision we have made prioritizing the human dignity of the Cuban people. Costa Rica is a world example; we are lovers of freedom and democracy. I was part of the decision to close our embassy in Cuba," she stated.
Fernández will assume the presidency on May 8. She was emphatic in stating that "Costa Rica will not tolerate violations of human rights." She added that "the country is taking the right step" and that she supports President Chaves's decision, making it her own.
He used the situation in Havana as a domestic political warning: "What is happening in Cuba should serve as an example for our country, for the youth, for the children. Look at what the left, what a communist regime, brings to the people."
The elected president also sent a direct message to the Cuban community in Costa Rica.
"The Cuban people residing in Costa Rica should feel at ease. This does not mean they are not welcomed here. The Cuban individuals living in Costa Rica, some of whom have even requested refuge, number around 10,000. They can feel assured," he emphasized.
Costa Rican Chancellor Arnoldo André announced that a deadline has been set until the end of March for the departure of diplomatic staff from both countries.
Starting from April 1, relations will be limited to the consular level, and Costa Rican consular services for Cuba will be handled from Panama. The embassy in Havana has already been understaffed since February 5.
The Cuban regime rejected the decision, calling it "arbitrary, unjustified, and unilateral." The Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla stated that Costa Rica is acting "due to subordination to the United States' policy against Cuba" and that the measure "is doomed to failure."
The Costa Rican break comes two weeks after Ecuador expelled members of the Cuban diplomatic mission on March 4, in what analysts describe as a trend of regional isolation of the Havana regime.
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