Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba
On March 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Costa Rica informed our Foreign Ministry — via a Diplomatic Note and without offering any justification whatsoever — of the unilateral decision to close that country’s Embassy in Cuba.
Furthermore, without any form of justification and invoking an alleged and unfounded principle of reciprocity, it requested that Cuba withdraw the diplomatic staff from its Embassy in San José, retaining only consular and administrative personnel.
It also notified us that, effective April 1, the government of Costa Rica will maintain relations with Cuba at the consular level.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba categorically rejects the disrespectful statements made by the President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, during a press conference on March 18. In attempting to justify this unfriendly act by his government, he grossly distorted Cuba’s history and reality, and scandalously disregarded the direct responsibility that the United States’ blockade policy has borne in the worsening of the economic situation and the deterioration of the living conditions of the Cuban people — a fact that has been acknowledged over the years by the Costa Rican government itself.
This is an arbitrary decision, evidently adopted under pressure and without regard for the national interests of that sister nation and its people. With this step, the Costa Rican government—which exhibits a history of subordination to United States policy regarding Cuba—once again joins the U.S. government’s offensive in its renewed attempts to isolate our country from the nations of “Our America,” and becomes complicit in its aggressive escalation against the Cuban Revolution—an escalation rejected by the international community.
Just as it did 60 years ago, this endeavor will fail. Nothing can drive a wedge between the peoples of Cuba and Costa Rica, united by the indissoluble bonds of a shared history — a history nurtured by great heroes of Cuban independence such as Martí and Maceo.
Havana, March 18, 2026.
