Q COSTARICA — Costa Rica’s president, Laura Fernández, didn’t remain silent too long, in the face of strong criticism for “praising” the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua
The president responded, making it clear that she holds no diplomatic ties with Nicaragua, yet she would never speak harshly about her northern neighbors.
This is what Fernández responded: “I was emphatic in that hour-long interview: we have no diplomatic relations with Nicaragua, Costa Rica doesn’t even have an embassy in Nicaragua, but that doesn’t mean I can go on an interview and rail against a neighboring country; it wouldn’t be that irresponsible.”
Fernández was referring to the interview with news network NTN24 when she stated that Nicaraguans have the “government it has chosen to have,” which sparked controversy due to her position on Nicaragua’s co-dictators.
Her stance also directly contradicts the policy of Costa Rica’s primary ally, the United States. Political analysts noted that her foreign policy remarks serve as a continuation of her predecessor Rodrigo Chaves’s administration.
“I don’t have time to get involved in other people’s problems,” she asserted, which many interpret as her fear that Ortega will send mobs to the border.
Read more: Did the Nicaraguan regime create a list of 10 people targeted for assassination in Costa Rica?
The president stated that she is interested in Nicaraguan workers in Costa Rica who are properly registered, but also that she will not tolerate migrants who come to commit crimes, referring to Nicaraguans who illegally mine gold in Crucitas.
Fernández remains in the eye of the storm, although she acknowledges that Nicaraguans support Costa Rica’s economy: “They work with dignity here.”
“I am interested in having an orderly border, with orderly migration flows, and I am interested in having good trade relations with Nicaragua,” she maintained.
Manuel Orozco, political analyst and researcher at the Inter-American Dialogue, told Divergentes.com, that behind Costa Rica’s caution toward the Ortega-Murillo regime lies a long-standing political calculation.
Fernández’s statements do not come out of nowhere. Fernández’s position is a continuation of Rodrigo Chaves’s administration of avoiding direct confrontation with Managua for fear that the regime might close the border and disrupt the Central American trade route—a key corridor for the flow of goods among the countries of the isthmus.