Costa Rica will ask U.S. to ‘reconsider’ Level 2 travel advisory

The State Department said Mike Pompeo’s visit on Tuesday to Costa Rica will be the first of a U.S. secretary of state to the Central American country in a decade.

“We will talk about issues of high importance in the framework of security cooperation and development in the region,” Alvarado tweeted last week when the tour was first reported.

Costa Rica recibirá al secretario de Estado de los Estados Unidos, @SecPompeo, el próximo 21 de enero. Conversaremos sobre temas de alta importancia en el marco de la cooperación en seguridad y el desarrollo de la región. @StateDept— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) January 16, 2020

On Monday, Casa Presidencial said President Alvarado will propose to Pompeo that the United States “reconsider the unilateral change” of the travel warning to Costa Rica, which went from level 1 (take normal precautions) to 2 (increase precautions due to crime).

“Costa Rica has categorically rejected this change, applied since January 7, for considering it unfair and disproportionate,” Casa Presidencial said in a statement.

• Read: U.S. travel advisory says visitors to Costa Rica should ‘exercise increased caution’ | Costa Rican government responds to travel advisory

Casa Presidencial added that Alvarado will also address with Pompeo “the situation of Venezuela and Nicaragua, the increase in migratory flows and the impact in Costa Rica, and joint efforts in the area of ​​security and the fight against drug trafficking.”