QCOSTARICA – Costa Rica and the United States will jointly commit to seeking solutions to curb illegal migration and promote security.
These were some of the main agreements reached this Tuesday after the meeting between President Rodrigo Chaves and his counterpart Joe Biden, at a meeting that took place in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington D.C.
Chaves and Biden agreed to work towards fostering inclusive, equitable, and sustainable economic growth in the region through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity. They reaffirmed their dedication to developing a stronger, more diverse, secure, and sustainable worldwide semiconductor value chain in the Americas, including assistance from a partnership that was recently declared with the CHIPS Act.
They further talked about methods to strengthen their bilateral trading relationship in order to encourage stable and reliable supply chains.
“It was a great honor to speak with the leader of the United States. We face common challenges to generate prosperity and quality of life for our inhabitants, including security. We aspire to have secure supply chains to boost prosperity and prevent them from being affected by external events. Costa Rica continues to be one of the main allies of the United States,” Chaves declared.
On the other hand, the president stressed that “there are solid and legitimate causes” that lead people to leave their countries in search of a better future. However, since solutions to the underlying causes will take time, countries such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and the United States must collaborate in managing this phenomenon.
A large number of these migrants enter through Panama on their way to the United States.
The Presidents also agreed to increase their collaboration in security measures to combat organized crime and its related rise in violence and corruption. The U.S. Department of State will finance new initiatives to strengthen Costa Rica’s law enforcement and justice system, in addition to battling narcotic trafficking and corruption.
These projects will include up to US$24 million dollars towards improved Costa Rica’s police and Coast Guard locations, improvement in Costa Rica’s National Police Academy, enlargement of the citizen security program, Sembremos Seguridad, and further support to Costa Rica’s Air Surveillance Service.
Chaves and Biden also discussed cooperation in the area of cybersecurity, including the progress of Costa Rica in constructing a national cybersecurity operations center, which is being supported by American assistance.
President Biden praised Costa Rica’s decision to employ trusted providers in its upcoming 5G tender and auctions. They both agreed to carry on their relationship on a personal level and the State Department has agreed to finance initiatives for female entrepreneurs, access to higher education for African-descendant and indigenous people in LimĂłn, and English language programs around Costa Rica.
With notes from the White House Briefing Room
