QCOSTARICA — The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, began on Monday a two-day official visit to Costa Rica in which discussions with his Costa Rican counterpart, Rodrigo Chaves.
Bukele’s agenda for Monday included a bilateral meeting with Chaves and an extended meeting with representatives of both cabinets in which both countries signed agreements and discuss trade, security and cooperation issues, according to official sources.
The Salvadoran president will also receive the Orden Nacional Juan Mora Fernández in the Gran Cruz Placa de Oro (Juan Mora Fernández National Order in the Grand Cross Gold Plate) degree, the highest distinction that Costa Rica grants to distinguished heads of state or government.
– Advertisement –
“El Salvador was one of the most violent and unsafe places in the world (…) with terrifying murder rates and now El Salvador is one of the safest countries in the world, even safer than Switzerland, I never imagined I would see that,” declared President Chaves last Wednesday when he announced Bukele’s visit.
Chaves assured that the order is granted to Bukele for “his contributions in terms of public security and for having turned that society into a safe society” and also because “a large number of the people of Costa Rica admire the achievements of that country.”
For today, Tuesday, the agenda released by the Government of Costa Rica indicates that both presidents will make a “working visit” to the La Reforma Penitentiary Center, one of the main prisons in Costa Rica, and later there will be a press conference.
“We are not going to take him to the most beautiful place in Costa Rica, nor to a volcano, nor to the National Museum. We are going to go to La Reforma on a working visit, we are going to see what it represents, how it smells, what it sounds like, what it feels like, and there we are going to sit down and work,” said Chaves.
This visit has generated criticism from several opposition political parties in Costa Rica, which refused to receive Bukele in the Legislative Assembly (Congress) due to allegations of violations of human rights, institutions, and the Constitution during his term.
Costa Rica’s Supreme Court also refused to receive Bukele, according to President Chaves, who ruled out bilateral meetings or meetings with groups of deputies or magistrates.
– Advertisement –
Chaves criticized the fact that there are opposition legislators who did not want Bukele to visit Congress because the initiatives he has implemented in El Salvador against crime and violence contradict the phrase “hugs to those who shoot,” which the Costa Rican leader has used to criticize deputies and the country’s laws, which he considers “soft” against crime.
Bukele will send a plane with humanitarian aid to Costa Rica
The president of El Salvador confirmed that his government will collaborate with a humanitarian mission to Costa Rica, in light of the emergency that the country is facing due to the heavy rains of the last few days.
In a press conference at Casa Presidencial on Monday, Bukele explained that the mission includes 300 rescuers, food, medical supplies, paramedics, and other items, which will be transported in an aircraft that will arrive in the country tomorrow.
According to the Salvadoran, this mission was initially intended to collaborate with the crisis in Valencia, Spain, after the DANA disaster. However, according to Bukele, Spain is unwilling to receive international aid.
– Advertisement –
“We can send it tomorrow,” said Bukele.
“May God bless you,” was the response by President Chaves.
In addition, at a press conference, Chaves confirmed that he also requested help from the United States government of Joe Biden, through a letter. “We hope they respond soon,” said Chaves.
– Advertisement –
Source link
Rico
