The Diplomat
The Spanish Government expressed its desire to collaborate with the team of the new President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, who yesterday took office in San José, in a ceremony attended by His Majesty the King, together with other Latin American leaders.
Don Felipe, who was accompanied during his stay in Costa Rica by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met on Saturday afternoon with the outgoing President, Carlos Alvarado, and later held a meeting with Rodrigo Chaves, to express his best wishes for the term of office that is now beginning and Spain’s desire to strengthen ties with Costa Rica.
On Saturday night, the King attended a dinner hosted by Chaves for the heads of state and government present at the inauguration, including the presidents of Colombia, Iván Duque, the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, as well as the Ibero-American secretary general, the Chilean Andrés Allamand.
Albares, who, for his part, met with the Foreign Minister-designate of Costa Rica, Arnoldo André Tinoco, stressed to journalists the importance of this first contact with the incoming government, with the aim of getting to know its priorities and offering Spain’s support, reports Efe.
“Costa Rica is a brother country and a fundamental partner for Spain in Central America. It is an important time to get to know the new government and its priorities,” said Albares, who recalled that Spain has been a solid partner for the Central American country in terms of cooperation, an example of which has been the donation of vaccines against Covid-19.
The minister underlined the common agenda that Spain and Costa Rica share on issues such as the fight against climate change, the defence of biodiversity, the promotion of social justice, the commitment to multilateralism, gender equality and digitalisation.
“These are all issues in which Costa Rica is at the forefront in Latin America and the world, and it is the agenda of the Spanish Government and that which we are promoting from Europe, so there is nothing more normal than joining forces on this and the other side of the Atlantic”, declared Albares.
That same Saturday, the Foreign Affairs Minister also met with his colleagues from Chile and Guatemala, and yesterday he met with the foreign ministers of Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic, who make up the so-called Alliance for Development in Democracy. “Spain will always support all Latin American cooperation initiatives,” said Albares.
