The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs learned today, September 18, through media reports, of the surprising statement made by Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar Rivera to the Miami Herald, that “diplomatic relations have been severed” with Cuba—a decision that has never been formally notified to the Cuban government by the authorities of that country.
As previously reported, on March 17, 2026, the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship informed our Foreign Ministry, via a diplomatic note and without offering any justification, of its unilateral decision to close that country’s embassy in Cuba. Furthermore, it requested that Cuba, without any justification and invoking an alleged and unfounded principle of reciprocity, withdraw the diplomatic staff from its Embassy in San José and retain only consular and administrative personnel.
At that time, the then Costa Rican Foreign Minister, Arnoldo André Tinoco, informed the Cuban Foreign Ministry that these decisions “did not constitute a break in diplomatic relations.”
In Institutional Communication 076-2026, published by the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 18, 2026, under the title “Closure of the Costa Rican Embassy in Cuba and Withdrawal of Diplomatic Personnel from Cuba in Costa Rica,” there is likewise no mention of a formal severance of diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The fact that Costa Rica’s current foreign minister has chosen to share information with a South Florida news outlet about an alleged rift—of which the Cuban government is completely unaware—suggests that we are witnessing yet another act of subordination by the Costa Rican government to U.S. policy toward Cuba.