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Left:
Costa
Rican Minister
of Foreign
Affairs, Manuel
Ventura meets
U.S. Secretary,
Mike Pompeo.
Right: Nicolas
Maduro meets
Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Cuba,
Bruno Rodríguez
Parrilla. /
Costa Rica and Cuba
Ministries of
Foreign Affairs
courtesy photos.
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Costa
Rican Minister meets
with U.S.
Secretary Pompeo
then Cuban Minister
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
and wire services
The Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Manuel Ventura meets
today with Bruno Rodriguez,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Cuba. On Thursday of last
week, Minister Ventura had met
with U.S. Secretary Mike
Pompeo at the headquarters of
the Department of State, in
Washington D.C.
The meeting with the Cuban
minister is programmed to
start today at 9:55 a.m. in
the Yellow
House* in San Jose. This
is the first visit of a Cuban
minister since the restoration
of diplomatic relations
between San José and Havana on
March 18, 2009.
Minister Ventura considers the
meeting as "an opportunity to
strengthen the links between
Costa Rica and Cuba in the
different areas of political
dialogue, cooperation, and
cultural exchanges."
The Cuban Minister is expected
to have a breakfast meeting
with members of the Costa
Rica-Cuba Parliamentary
Friendship Group, and Cuba
Embassy staff on Tuesday
before leaving the country.
Related to Minister Ventura
Thursday meeting with U.S.
Secretary, Mike Pompeo, he
said "both countries
recognized in the other a
reliable partner and a
strategically.”
Among the topics of the
meeting was an analysis of the
conflicts that affect the
region, especially the
situation in Nicaragua and
Venezuela and the impact of
the Nicaragua crisis in Costa
Rica.
Minister Ventura spoke about
the latest report of the
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for
Refugees, UNHCR, which
estimates that since the
beginning of the crisis,
62,000 Nicaraguans have fled
to other countries and 55,000
of them have sought refuge in
Costa Rica. That means 88
percent of the people who have
escaped the crisis in
Nicaragua are headed to Costa
Rica.
"These figures can continue to
increase if a quick and
democratic solution to the
crisis that oppresses
Nicaragua is not found," said
the Ministry in its statement.
According to the Ministry, Mr.
Pompeo recognized the
importance of Costa Rica in
the search for a democratic
solution to the crisis in
Nicaragua and especially the
efforts of the country to
receive and grant refuge to
the Nicaraguans.
On another subject, Secretary
Pompeo, emphasized the
effective work that the
country has done in the fight
against illicit drug
trafficking thanks to the
cooperation of the United
States. According to ministry
statistics, in 2018, Costa
Rica seized a record 32.5 tons
of cocaine.
"The donation by the United
States of three patrol boats
to the National Coast Guard
Service and four helicopters
for the Ministry of Security
will be decisive in the common
fight against transnational
organized crime," said the
Ministry in its statement.
During the meeting in
Washington, Minister Ventura
was accompanied by the Costa
Rican Ambassador to the United
States, Fernando Llorca.
Secretary of State, Pompeo was
accompanied by Mrs. Kimberly
Breier, Assistant Secretary
for the Western Hemisphere of
the Department of State.
The relations with U.S. and
Cuba, the Trump administration
has imposed new restrictions
on Cuba aimed at punishing the
regime for its support of the
Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro, according to VOA report*
on April 17th.
U.S. National Security Adviser
John Bolton announced new
limits on the amount of money
Cuban Americans can send to
relatives on the island at
$1,000 per person every three
months.
In addition, the
administration will impose new
"regulatory changes to
restrict non-family travel to
Cuba," Bolton said in a speech
in Miami to a Bay of Pigs
veterans group on the 58th
anniversary of the failed
CIA-orchestrated invasion of
the island in 1961.
The announcement followed one
by Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo that the administration
will allow U.S. citizens to
sue foreign businesses using
property seized during the
1959 Cuban revolution. The
policy shift means lawsuits
can be filed beginning May 2.
The U.S. government has
already certified nearly 6,000
claims valued at more than $8
billion, including actual
value and interest.
The decision likely will
hinder Cuba's efforts to
encourage foreign investment
in the Caribbean island. The
move is part of Trump's
broader campaign to crack down
on socialist Latin American
countries Cuba and Nicaragua
and to oust Maduro, whose grip
on power depends largely on
support from Cuba, along with
Russia and China.
"For years now, the Cuban
regime has suffocated
Venezuela's independence and
directly contributed to the
current crisis for its own
gain and survival," Bolton
said. "At this moment, Havana
continues to prop up Maduro
and help him sustain the
brutal suffering of the
Venezuelan people."
"As President Trump has said,
Maduro is quite simply a
'Cuban puppet,''' Bolton said.
The European Union has warned
it will protect the interests
of European companies or
people conducting business in
Cuba who may be affected by
any lawsuits. Spain, which has
large investments on the
island, has asked the EU to
challenge the U.S. decision, a
senior government official
said.
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Could
it be considered
double speech, when
Costa Rican
government
strengthens
relations with Cuba
and on the other
hand calls for
democracy in
Nicaragua and
Venezuela?
We
would like to know your thoughts
on this story. Send your comments
to: news@amcostarica.com
*Link to reach the place map.
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