QCOSTARICA – The elected president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, on Friday did an about face on one of his statement on April 4, one day after winning the elections, saying he was reconsidering the possibility of sending an ambassador to Nicaragua.
On Friday Chaves announced that his “inclination” was “to appoint an ambassador to Nicaragua, (because) we have diplomatic relations and we are not at war” and stated that he does not like “the half measures” or “the positions to look pretty”.
“I have not said that I am going to put an ambassador in Nicaragua. We are still considering the possibility. Obviously, the event of having removed the OAS from Nicaragua changes the equation and when we are ready we will talk about it,” Chaves told the press this Friday.
Nicaragua this week forced the closure of the Organization of American States (OAS) in its country and expelled the delegation. Read more: The United States urges the OAS to respond to the forced closure of headquarters in Nicaragua
“If diplomatic relations have to be broken for reasons of merit, we break them, but not to be in the little game of having diplomatic relations and not having ambassadors,” Chaves declared on April 4.
On Friday he insisted that he did not say he would appoint an ambassador to Nicaragua”.
For his part, the designated Minister of Foreign Relations, Arnoldo André Tinoco, revealed on April 22 that he met with the current Nicaraguan ambassador in San José, Duilio Hernández, as a “sign of goodwill” and to “discuss bilateral issues.”
“In Nicaragua, as president (Chaves) has announced, the intention is to appoint an ambassador at the appropriate time. We are making the evaluations and consultations of the case to get there,” said Tinoco to the press that day.
President Carlos Alvarado, whose term ends at noon on May 8, did not send an ambassador to Nicaragua and in various international forums he has denounced human rights violations in Nicaragua and has advocated a return to democracy.
Costa Rica has strongly criticized the Nicaraguan government for imprisoning activists, journalists and presidential candidates and has said that the elections last November in which Daniel Ortega was re-elected were not clean or transparent.
Rodrigo Chaves will assume the presidency in Costa Rica on May 8 for a four-year term (2022-2026).
In Costa Rica, the president is elected for a term of four years and is not eligible for immediate re-election.
