RICO’s Q — I came across a post by Libertad Y Propiedad II on Facebook that caught my attention and felt it was worth sharing.
The post takes aim at Rodrigo Chaves for pulling us into the conflict that Donald Trump started with Iran on February 28th, declaring that nation’s military, among others, as terrorists.
It continues by noting that former President Otilio Ulate never involved Costa Rica in the Korean War while he was in office. Likewise, José Joaquín Trejos ensured Costa Rica stayed out of the Vietnam War during his presidency. And, in the 1980s, former Presidents Luis Alberto Monge and Oscar Arias both kept the country from getting caught up in the conflict between the Contras and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. That cautious approach continued under Rafael Angel Calderón Fournier, who also steered Costa Rica clear of the first U.S. war against Iraq.
In Costa Rica, there is a long tradition among all political parties of maintaining total neutrality in armed conflicts, earning the nickname “the Switzerland of Central America,” for two reasons:
- Since we don’t have an army, it is irrelevant and even comical to get involved in an armed conflict.
- Costa Rica is small, even by Central American standards, and we don’t play in the big leagues where the world powers operate.
What Rodrigo Chaves did is ridiculous, stemming from his delusional ego. In his mind, he’s incredibly important; he thinks his pronouncements are heard in Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
Chaves feels he made a significant impact, even though his comments about Iran went completely unnoticed worldwide.
That’s why Chaves believes he did something important when his government declared on Wednesday (08.04.2026) the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and others (Hezbollah, Hamas, and Yemeni Ansarallah) as terrorist organizations, considering them a risk to international security.
The declaration that “Costa Rica is taking steps to ensure that our border security barriers and immigration systems protect the country” went completely unnoticed worldwide.
Chaves said he wants “the rest of the world to see how Costa Rica is trying to protect itself not only economically, but also from terrorism and the disastrous consequences that could result if these groups begin to operate outside the theaters where they usually operate.”
Costa Rica’s Diario Extra, the self-proclaimed newspaper, as having the largest circulation in the country, reported that the Chaves administration indicated that they will communicate this decision to the international community “to strengthen joint prevention and cooperation measures”.
No international news network reported on it.
And I’m sure that in Iran, like in the Oval Office, they don’t even know who Rodrigo Chaves is, and they won’t lose a single minute of sleep over what he decreed.