Costa Rica’s Chinchilla meets with Pope Benedict XVI

On Monday, President Laura Chinchilla met with the head of Catholic Church “in an atmosphere of cordiality, in which the pope expressed his admiration for the Costa Rican people and their values ​​of peace as a constant factor of development, democracy and environmental protection,” the president said.

The president thanked Pope Benedict XVI for his support of the country after Hurricane Tomás in 2010, and also for “twice mentioning Costa Rica in his message ‘Urbi et Orbi‘” that year.

The pope and the president also discussed a bilateral agreement that seeks to improve relations between Costa Rica and Vatican City. Later, Chinchilla met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to discuss the details of the agreement.

Chinchilla is traveling in Europe through Thursday to promote cooperation between Central America and the EU and to attract investment.