Published on Tuesday, April 1, 2025
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Former Costa Rican President Óscar Arias-Sánchez confirmed that the U.S. government has revoked his diplomatic and tourist visas.

Arias, who served two terms (1986–1990 and 2006–2010) and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987, addressed the matter during a press conference at his home in San José.

The 85-year-old former president stated that he received an email notifying him of the U.S. government's decision to revoke his visa, effective immediately.

According to Arias, the notice was brief and did not explain whether any specific fact, statement, event, or action on his part may have influenced the U.S. State Department’s decision.

However, after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States which took place on Monday, January 20, 2025,  Arias publicly criticized President Trump in a social media statement, saying: "the world trembles every time Donald Trump opens his mouth."

The two times former Costa Rican president further accused Trump of governing in an authoritarian manner rather than with "authority, maturity, culture, empathy, and intelligence."

"We are witnessing an unprecedented phenomenon: a president suffering from dissociative identity disorder," Arias also claimed.

The American Psychological Association, defines Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder, as a mental health condition where an individual has two or more separate personalities that control the person's behavior at different times.

Addressing reporters, Arias emphasized that he has been critical of both past and present U.S. administrations and intends to continue voicing his opinions.

Arias played a key role in securing the Esquipulas II Accords, an initiative aimed at promoting democracy and peace in Central America during the region’s conflicts in the 1980s. For his efforts, he was awarded the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize alongside other political figures, including John Biehl and Rodrigo Madrigal Nieto.

The Esquipulas Agreement sought to end armed conflicts involving leftist guerrilla groups in El Salvador and Guatemala, the Contras’ insurgency against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Honduras' transition from military rule, and Panama’s struggle under Manuel Noriega’s dictatorship.

Arias is the latest high-profile Costa Rican political figure to face U.S. visa revocation. Last month, Congressman José Francisco Nicolás Alvarado and Ana Sofía Machuca Flores, General Auditor of the Electricity Institute (ICE), also confirmed that their U.S. visas had been revoked.

In February, Congresswomen Johanna Obando and Cinthya Córdoba of the Liberal Progressive Party (PLP) were also notified of their visa cancellations.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Melinda Hildebrand, a Houston-based businesswoman and philanthropist, as the next U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica. However, no information has been released regarding hearings on her nomination before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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