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World

Costa Rica's president fires foreign minister over unapproved Trump security meeting

President Laura Fernandez sacked Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar for attending Trump's anti-cartel Shield of the Americas meeting in New York without telling her, calling the omission 'great strategic damage'.

By James Calloway · · 2 min read

Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez has fired Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar after he attended a US-led regional security meeting chaired by United States President Donald Trump in New York without notifying her, an omission the government said blocked her own participation.

Fernandez said on Thursday that she should have been the one to attend the meeting of Trump’s anti-cartel “Shield of the Americas” alliance, and that Tovar’s failure to consult her caused “great strategic damage”. Tovar attended “without giving prior notice or informing” the president, a conservative Trump ally, of his participation, Costa Rica’s government said. Fernandez was on a visit to Colombia, where she met that country’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, Moneycontrol reported.

The meeting took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with several right-wing Latin American presidents taking part. Fifteen coalition members issued a joint statement declaring their intent to impose asset freezes and visa restrictions and seek criminal liability for members and supporters of 24 criminal organisations. Trump referred to drug cartels as “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere”, AFP reported.

The dismissal has taken effect immediately, the government said in a statement. Indiana Trejos, Costa Rica’s current foreign trade minister, has been named acting foreign minister and will assume the role on her return from the UN General Assembly. Tovar, who had held the foreign affairs post since May, avoided commenting on his dismissal and posted a statement on X thanking Fernandez, while noting the “real possibility of securing the historic election of our compatriot Rebeca Grynspan as Secretary-General of the United Nations”.

Costa Rica, long seen as a beacon of stability in Latin America, is grappling with a surge in drug-related violence.

Sources

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