Communiqué from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba
March 19, 2026
On March 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Costa Rica informed our Foreign Ministry, through a Diplomatic Note and without offering any argument, the unilateral decision to close the Embassy of that country in Cuba.
Furthermore, without any type of justification and invoking an alleged and unfounded reciprocity, it asked Cuba to withdraw diplomatic personnel from its Embassy in San José and keep only consular and administrative personnel.
He also notified that as of April 1, the government of Costa Rica will maintain relations with Cuba at the consular level.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba strongly rejects the disrespectful statements made by the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, at a press conference on March 18, when, by trying to justify this unfriendly act of his government, he crudely manipulated the history and reality of Cuba and scandalously ignored the direct responsibility for the worsening of the economic situation and the deterioration of the people’s living conditions Cuban have had under the blockade policy of the United States, a fact recognized over the years by the Costa Rican government itself.
This is an arbitrary decision, evidently adopted under pressure and without taking into consideration the national interests and those of that brother people.
With this step, the Costa Rican government, which exhibits a history of subordination to United States policy against Cuba, it joins once again the offensive of the US government in its renewed attempts to isolate our country from the nations of Our America, and it participates in its aggressive escalation against the Cuban Revolution, rejected by the international community.
Just like 60 years ago, you will fail in your endeavor. Nothing can distance the people of Cuba and Costa Rica, united by indissoluble ties of a common history, fertilized by great heroes of Cuban independence such as Martí and Maceo.
Havana, March 18, 2026.
Source: Granma, translation Walter Lippmann