Costa Rica cuts ties with Cuba over communismAFP, SAN JOSECosta Rica on Wednesday cut diplomatic ties with Cuba and Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said that the “hemisphere must be cleansed of communists.”Chaves’ statement came shortly after Costa Rica said it was closing its embassy in Havana and told Cuba to withdraw its diplomatic staff from San Jose, the Costa Rican capital. Chaves told a news conference that Costa Rica “does not recognize the legitimacy of Cuba’s communist regime, in light of the mistreatment, repression and undignified conditions in which they hold the inhabitants of that beautiful island.”A car drives past Costa Rica’s embassy in Havana on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters“The hemisphere must be cleansed of communists,” said Chaves, who is set to be succeeded by his party colleague, Laura Fernandez, on May 8. The Costa Rican embassy had been without diplomatic staff since Feb. 5. Costa Rica is following in the footsteps of Ecuador, which on March 4 expelled Cuba’s ambassador, Basilio Gutierrez, accusing him of interfering in the country’s internal political affairs and engaging in “violent activities.”Costa Rica and Ecuador are part of a group of Latin American nations that recently formed an alliance with the US to combat drug traffickers using military force.

Source: Taipei Times March 19, 2026 16:04 UTC