No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsGlobalCentral America leaders fail again to reach agreement on Cuban migrant crisis

Central America leaders fail again to reach agreement on Cuban migrant crisis

Central American negotiators on Tuesday failed at yet another attempt to find a solution to help Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica near its borders with Nicaragua and Panama.

Central American officials met in Mexico City with counterparts from Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and the United States to seek an agreement for the transit of some 7,000 Cuban migrants who are waiting for temporary visas to leave Costa Rica and Panama on their way to the U.S.

Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry in a public statement said Guatemala’s refusal to allow passage of the migrants through its territory left the negotiations at a stalemate, and the only agreement reached was that representatives will meet again on Dec. 28 in Mexico or Guatemala.

Costa Rica Foreign Minister Manuel González said the meeting allowed officials to take “a step in the right direction, as [talks] included the participation of major actors beyond SICA [the Central American Integration System], just as Costa Rica had proposed.”

González said Mexico confirmed its authorization for migrants to pass through its territory once they reach the border with Guatemala.

Guatemala, however, reiterated its position of not allowing their transit, just as the country’s leaders did on Friday at the SICA meeting, the minister noted.

Nicaraguan representatives also maintained their position that the Cubans cannot pass through their territory and must be transferred to the U.S. by air. Nicaragua emphasized its request for the U.S. to revoke its “wet foot, dry foot policy,” Nicaragua’s first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said.

SICA representatives addressed the Cuban problem last Friday at a meeting in San Salvador, but rejected Costa Rica’s plan to allow the Cubans to continue their journey, due to opposition by Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize, the only countries that would make it possible for them to reach Mexico.

The rejection of Costa Rica’s plan provoked the country’s withdrawal from all political forums of SICA.

Minister González, however, said he still hopes for a change of mind from Guatemala at next week’s meeting.

Cuban migrants have been stranded in Costa Rica after Nicaragua closed its border in mid-November. Costa Rican officials since then have been promoting an alternative plan for them to travel to Honduras and then continue their route to the U.S., where they hope to take advantage of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.

Read more stories on the Cuban migrants here

Trending Now

Costa Rica 2026 Elections Kick Off: 20 Candidates Vie for Presidency

Costa Rica's electoral season began yesterday with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's official call for the 2026 national elections. Eugenia Zamora, the TSE president, described...

Update: Costa Rica Shark Bite Victim is a Renowned Marine Biologist

Days after our report on the shark attack near Cocos Island, new details have emerged about the incident and the man involved. The diver,...

Costa Rica’s President Clashes with TSE Over Campaign Rules

Costa Rica's President Rodrigo Chaves has publicly criticized the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for rules that limit how the government can share information during...

Panama Defends Canal Neutrality at UN Amid US-China Tensions

Panama's President José Raúl Mulino took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly this week, standing firm on his country's control over the...

Nicaragua Says U.S. Seeks Venezuela’s Oil with Caribbean Warships

The United States wants to “steal” Venezuela’s oil reserves with the deployment of warships in the Caribbean, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Thursday. U.S. President...

Learning Spanish Through Music in Costa Rica: Misheard Lyrics and Wins

One of the most challenging parts of learning a language is understanding songs in that language. In my early days of learning Spanish, I...
L. Arias
L. Arias
Reporter | The Tico Times |
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica