Q COSTARICA — One of the most characteristic elements of Costa Rica’s foreign policy has been set aside in favor of the United States and Israel in their aggression against Iran.
Meanwhile, the Spanish government is the one raising the banner of “no to war.”
According to Al Jazeera, the attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran have already claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people. Faced with this recent campaign of aggression, the Costa Rican government chose to ignore the perpetual neutrality proclaimed since 1983 and has instead taken sides without hesitation.
On February 28, when the unjustified aggression began, the government, through a brief statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed “its grave concern about the escalation of tensions and military operations in the Middle East.” But he also stated: “Costa Rica strongly condemns Iran’s attacks against Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Jordan.”
It suffices to reiterate Rodrigo Chaves’s statements to Milenio magazine: “We are taking a stance with the United States and Israel because we believe they are on the right side.” However, Nicolás Boeglin suspiciously remarked, “I don’t think it has anything to do with violating neutrality.”
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has taken a different approach, decisively announcing that the United States could not use its bases on Spanish territory to carry out bombing missions in Iran. This earned him a threat from Trump to impose tariffs on Spanish imports.
Last Wednesday, March 4, Sánchez reiterated that “the position of the Spanish government can be summed up in four words: no to war.” He added that “we are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and that is also contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of reprisals from someone.”
Just this past Friday, the 6th, he insisted that “this war in Iran, in my opinion, in the opinion of the Spanish Government, is an extraordinary mistake that we are going to pay for,” according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The conflict in the Middle East is spreading to other countries. Israel has resumed its tradition of bombing Lebanon.
Translated and adapted from the article “En el caso de Irán, Costa Rica olvida su neutralidad perpetua” published at SemanarioUniversidad.com