President Alvarado speaks with US President-elect Biden

Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado said Monday that he had spoken by telephone with Joe Biden, the US President-elect.

In a statement shared via his social-media pages, Alvarado said he congratulated Biden on his election. The two also discussed COVID-19, climate change and economic recovery.

“Today I had a phone call with Joe Biden to congratulate him for his election,” Alvarado shared via Twitter. “We share a commitment to fight against COVID-19 and climate change, and also will work to foster the economic recovery.”

The call marked the first official conversation between Alvarado and Biden since the US elections were held on November 3.

Earlier this month, Alvarado, Vice President Epsy Campbell and the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry all issued statements responding to Biden’s apparent victory.

“Congratulations Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for becoming President-Elect and Vice President-Elect of the United States,” President Alvarado said in his prior statement. “We celebrate the high voter turnout and the friendship that unite our two countries.” 

“A warm greeting and special congratulations to Vice President Kamala Harris, who will become the first Black woman in the history of her country, and second in continental America, to serve in that role,” said Vice President Campbell. “As a fellow Jamaican descendant and proud Afrodescendant woman, I look forward to working with Vice President Kamala Harris to improve the livelihoods and foster the wellbeing of our communities and countries.”

The Foreign Ministry said, in part, that it would “work actively and constructively with the administration of President-elect Biden and with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to face the threats and challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, to further strengthen a dynamic bilateral agenda, promote permanent political dialogue, cooperate and promote commerce, and attract investment.”

President-elect Biden will be sworn into office on January 20, 2021.