Costa Rica closed its embassy in Havana this Wednesday and expelled Cuban diplomats from the country, announcing that they must “cleanse the hemisphere of communists.”
| URGENT — Costa Rica announces the closure of its embassy in Cuba and asks all its diplomatic staff to prepare to leave the country. pic.twitter.com/SV4g0OiKiz
— AgustÃn Antonetti (@agusantonetti) March 18, 2026
Costa Rica under pressure from Trump
This country is an ally of the American president, Donald Trump, who maintains an energy siege on the island and has multiplied its threats to take control of the island.
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President Rodrigo Chaves told the press that from now on Costa Rica “does not recognize the legitimacy of the communist regime of Cuba in view of the mistreatment, the repression, the unworthy conditions in which the inhabitants of that beautiful island are kept”.
“We must cleanse the hemisphere of communists (…), we are not going to give legitimacy to the regime that oppresses and tortures almost ten million Cubans today”said the right-wing president, who will be replaced by his co-partisan Laura Fernández on May 8.
When asked if his decision means a breaking of ties, Chaves stated that “At this time, Costa Rica and the Cuban communist regime do not have diplomatic relations.”
The Costa Rican president gave the Cuban diplomats until the end of the month to leave the country.
Chaves pointed out that if it wishes, Havana will be able to maintain a personal consulate in the country to serve some 10,000 Cuban residents, while Costa Rica will serve its citizens from Panama. The Costa Rican embassy did not have diplomatic personnel since February 5.
“We have made the decision to proceed (…) with the closure of the Costa Rican embassy in the Republic of Cuba. Likewise, we have requested the Cuban Foreign Ministry to withdraw its diplomatic personnel from the embassy in San José, except for consular officials”previously said the Costa Rican Foreign Minister, Arnoldo André Tinoco, together with Chaves in Peñas Blancas, on the border with Nicaragua.
Cuba speaks out
Havana described that decision as “arbitrary, evidently adopted under pressure and without taking into consideration the national interests and those of that brother people”.
“With this step, the Costa Rican government, which exhibits a history of subordination to the United States policy against Cuba, joins once again the offensive of the United States government in its renewed attempts to isolate our country from the nations of Our America”states a statement released by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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