QCOSTARICA – The government of Rodrigo Chaves will start the process to normalize the consular relationship with Venezuela, according to Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Arnoldo André,
The measure is taken as a result of the fact that on December 30 the National Assembly of Venezuela agreed not to extend the designation of legislator Juan Guaidó as Acting President.
This caused the resignation of the then Venezuelan ambassador in San José, María Faría, closing the consular mission in our country.
“Once the [interim] government of Juan Guaidó has disappeared, been canceled or eliminated, the only thing left is the government in Caracas [of President Nicolás Maduro], with which we are going to regularize consular relations,” said the foreign minister in a joint press conference with president Rodrigo Chaves.
“In Costa Rica, we have some 25,000 Venezuelans with a file with immigration, but there are around 94,000 pending applications. Many of those people have already left the country, however, those who remain require consular assistance,” André said.
Establishing a consular relationship with Venezuela allows Costa Rica to help the Venezuelans in the country, as it has been doing up to December.
According to Foreign Minister André, Costa Ricans in Venezuela also need consular services and that (in the event consular ties cannot be established), the option of doing so through a third country is being analyzed.
The government of Rodrigo Chaves emphasized that establishing consular relations does not mean that the broken diplomatic relations between the two countries will change.
“Do not misunderstand, Costa Rica’s diplomatic position with Venezuela is not changing,” Chaves pointed out.
