Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves ordered the closure of the country’s embassy in Havana on Wednesday (18 March), saying he didn’t recognise Cuba’s government.
Speaking at an event in San José attended by the U.S. ambassador, Chaves said the decision was a protest against Havana’s treatment of the Cuban people.
“Costa Rica does not recognise the legitimacy of Cuba’s communist regime, given the mistreatment, repression and undignified conditions endured by the inhabitants of that beautiful island,” he said.
“We must cleanse the hemisphere of communists,” Chaves added.
Cuba said it “strongly rejected” Chaves’s accusations, branding the embassy closure an "arbitrary decision,” taken “under pressure” from the U.S.
Chaves had “crudely manipulated the history and reality of Cuba and scandalously ignored the direct responsibility that the United States blockade policy has had in the worsening of the economic situation and the deterioration of the living conditions of the Cuban people”, Havana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
Costa Rica’s move comes just weeks after Ecuador ordered the expulsion of Cuban diplomats from the country, prompting Cuba to shut down its embassy in Quito.
The right-wing administrations in Costa Rica and Ecuador have aligned themselves with U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently signalled he may intervene on the island.
“I do believe I’ll have the honour of taking Cuba,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday (16 March).
Cuba’s government has blamed a longstanding U.S. economic embargo for an ongoing crisis that has driven more than one million people to leave the country.
Most recently, the Trump administration’s oil blockade on the island has contributed to widespread blackouts, cutting power to homes, hospitals and businesses.
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Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves ordered the closure of the country’s embassy in Havana on Wednesday (18 Ma...
A power outage struck most of Cuba, including Havana, the state electric utility said on Wednesday (5 March), as the Communist-run government grapples with increased pressure from the Trump administration that has curtailed oil shipments.
Cuba has released extensive details of a deadly midweek shootout at sea, showing rifles, pistols and nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition that it says were carried by a group of exiles who attempted to enter the island by speedboat.
Four people were killed and six detained after armed Cuban exiles aboard a Florida-registered speedboat were intercepted at sea on Wednesday, drawing swift reactions from Washington, Havana and Moscow.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Morocco has been declared winners of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and Senegal stripped of their title by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
One person has died after a cable car cabin at the Titlis ski resort in central Switzerland plunged down a snow-covered mountainside on Wednesday (18 March) amid strong winds.
The real power of the Strait of Hormuz lies not in closing it, but in the threat of closure.
Iranian President Pezeshkian has confirmed the killing of intelligence minister Esmail Khatib calling it a "cowardly assassination", following reports that Israel carried out an overnight strike.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field without U.S. or Qatari involvement, and warned that any Iranian attack on Qatar would prompt massive retaliation. The comments come as regional tensions soar after Tehran fired missiles at Gulf energy sites.
The war in the Middle East is exposing deeper tensions between the United States and China, particularly over control of global energy routes. As the Strait of Hormuz becomes a focal point, both powers are revealing sharply contrasting strategic priorities.
Anutin Charnvirakul has returned to power after winning a fresh mandate on Thursday following a Parliamentary vote in a country plagued by political drama and turmoil.
One person has died after a cable car cabin at the Titlis ski resort in central Switzerland plunged down a snow-covered mountainside on Wednesday (18 March) amid strong winds.
A Chinese man, Zhang Kequn and his Kenyan associate, Charles Mwangi, have been charged by a court in Kenya for alleged involvement in illegal dealings of wildlife species.
Six people died on Wednesday, following fresh Israeli offensive against suspected Hezbollah infrastructure in Central Beirut on Wednesday.
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