“We are very concerned about political prisoners” in Nicaragua: Foreign Minister of Costa Rica

The condition of the political prisoners in Nicaragua and their families is of concern to the government of Costa Rica, one of the main destination countries for migrants fleeing state repression led by President Daniel Ortega, told the voice of america the Costa Rican Foreign Minister, Arnoldo André.

The foreign minister stated that although “the problems of each country must be resolved by the population of each nation, due to the principle of self-determination of peoples”, historically, as a State policy, Costa Rica has been emphatic in denouncing the persistent violation of human rights .

“We are very concerned about the political prisoners and their families. We are very concerned about the lack of freedom of the press and other aspects that have been resolved by international organizations in whose resolutions we have supported the restitution of democratic order and freedoms in Nicaragua,” said the Costa Rican foreign minister.

Prior to assuming power in May of this year, President Rodrigo Chaves in Costa Rica generated expectations above all because the President said he would send a diplomat to Managua arguing that his country had no enmity with anyone, however, according to André, the panorama changed after the expulsion of the OAS diplomats and the seizure of the organization’s facilities. “That made the country reconsider the matter and leave it as it has been,” he said.

Months later Nicaragua also withdrew its ambassador in Costa Rica, Duilio Hernández, replacing him with a business manager, something that according to the diplomat is interpreted as “an act of reciprocity since Costa Rica does not have an ambassador.”

“At the diplomatic level, we maintain a chargé d’affaires in Managua and Managua has recently withdrawn its ambassador Hernández and replaced him with a chargé d’affaires, Mr. Valdrack Jaentschke. We see in it an act of reciprocity because Costa Rica does not have an ambassador there,” said the Costa Rican Foreign Minister.

Importance of relations between both countries

The foreign minister in turn explained that relations between Costa Rica and Nicaragua “are historic” and are maintained, and also ruled out any type of friction between the two countries.

“They are relationships of all kinds. The commercial nature is very clear with a constant flow of exchange. On a personal, consular basis, well, I already told you that there are approximately one million Nicaraguans here that the Nicaraguan consulate must deal with, just as we have Costa Rican activities in Managua. It is up to neighboring countries to understand each other”.

Nicaraguan migration increases and there is no plan to combat xenophobia

Regarding the immigration issue, the Costa Rican foreign minister said that he saw with great concern the increase in the flow of Nicaraguans to the point that the system has become saturated and they are granting appointments for a period of seven years.

“This means that the country no longer has the capacity to attend to this emergency alone. It needs international support and determined cooperation, not only to process refugee applications, but also to finance all the necessary measures to integrate this population.”

André stressed that Costa Rica has distinguished itself for being a humanitarian and hospitable country in this sense, but pointed out that the financial cost “of this population in social security, social assistance, education for minors and integration, is excessive for the country to finance alone”.

“That is why we have turned to the international community seeking financial support and hopefully it will not be reimbursable because it is not fair that Costa Rica has to go into debt and pay interest to solve a problem whose cause and origin is not ours.”

When asked if there was any plan to combat xenophobia, the foreign minister said that they have not seen “any sign” of this type at this time “nor do we expect it to emerge.”

“The country is a hospitable country. He has a great humanitarian conscience and the Nicaraguan brothers have been well received. Some of them even manage to integrate into national production chains.”

“Consider that we are already reaching almost 20% of the national population being made up of recent immigrants. That is one million people in a population of five million,” concluded the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, Arnoldo André.

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