The organizing committee in charge of the inauguration of Costa Rican President-elect Luis Guillermo Solís said that six presidents – mostly from Central America – will attend official ceremonies in San José on Thursday, May 8.
Representatives from 80 countries and international organizations confirmed their attendance at the ceremonies, which will be held at the National Stadium in La Sabana Park, west of San José.
Presidents who already have confirmed attendance are Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic, Otto Pérez Molina of Guatemala, (president-elect) Salvador Sánchez of El Salvador and Evo Morales of Bolivia. Ricardo Martinelli of Panama had planned on attending, but canceled at the last minute on Wednesday, according to crhoy.com.
The governments of Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba and Argentina will be represented by their vice presidents.
Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega was not personally invited by Solís during a recent tour of the region that skipped Nicaragua, due to a border dispute between the two countries that is being heard at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Nicaragua’s invitation was sent through their embassy in San José.
Other top-level guests include Spain’s Prince Felipe de Borbón, Secretary General of the Organization of American States José Miguel Insulza, and the president of the Chamber of Representatives of Morocco.
The U.S. delegation will be led by Gina McCarthy, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The ceremony is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. with the entry of international delegations, followed by an official act of the Legislative Assembly. The ceremony will last approximately 90 minutes and ends with a speech by Solís.
At 1:30 p.m., Solis will have lunch with attending presidents and the highest ranking leaders at the Antigua Aduana facilities in downtown San José. Other guests will share a lunch with members of Solís’ Cabinet at the National Stadium.
Some 22,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony.
Doors at the stadium will open at 8 a.m. Security protocol at the stadium prohibits umbrellas, coins, glass recipients, large bags and food.
