Costa Rica is currently an active member of the international community and, in 1983, claimed it was for neutrality. Due to certain powerful constituencies favoring its methods, it has a weight in world affairs far beyond its size. The country lobbied aggressively for the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and became the first nation to recognize the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, based in San José.
The foreign affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica are a function of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.
History
Costa Rica gained election as president of the Group of 77 in the United Nations in 1995. That term ended in 1997 with the South-South Conference held in San Jose the 3rd.
Costa Rica occupied a nonpermanent seat in the Security Council from 1997 to 1999 and exercised a leadership role in confronting crises in the Middle East and Africa, as well as in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is currently a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. On 1 January 2008 Costa Rica started its third year term on the Security Council.
Costa Rica strongly backed efforts by the United States to implement UN Security Council Resolution 940, which led to the restoration of the democratically elected Government of Haiti in October 1994. Costa Rica was among the first to call for a postponement of the 22 May elections in Peru when international observer missions found electoral machinery not prepared for the vote count.
Costa Rica is also a member of the International Criminal Court, without a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).
Relations to Central America
In 1987, then President Óscar Arias authored a regional plan that served as the basis for the Esquipulas Peace Agreement and Arias was awarded the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his work. Arias also promoted change in the USSR-backed Nicaraguan government of the era. Costa Rica also hosted several rounds of negotiations between the Salvadoran Government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, aiding El Salvador's efforts to emerge from civil war and culminating in that country's 1994 free and fair elections. Costa Rica has been a strong proponent of regional arms-limitation agreements. Former President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez recently proposed the abolition of all Central American militaries and the creation of a regional counternarcotics police force in their stead.
With the establishment of democratically elected governments in all Central American nations by the 1990s, Costa Rica turned its focus from regional conflicts to the pursuit of neoliberal policies on the isthmus. The influence of these policies, along with the US invasion of Panama, was instrumental in drawing Panama into the Central American model of neoliberalism. Costa Rica also participated in the multinational Partnership for Democracy and Development in Central America.
Regional political integration has not proven attractive to Costa Rica. The country debated its role in the Central American integration process under former President Calderon. Costa Rica has sought concrete economic ties with its Central American neighbors rather than the establishment of regional political institutions, and it chose not to join the Central American Parliament.
Costa Rica in the UN
Costa Rica has been an active member of the United Nations since its inception at the San Francisco Conference in 1945. Its first ambassador to the United Nations was Fernando Soto Harrison, the secretary of governance under President Picado.
Costa Rican Christiana Figueres was nominated for the post of UN secretary-general in July 2016.
Diplomatic relations
List of countries with which Costa Rica maintains diplomatic relations:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="3" |frameless|425x425px
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|1
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|2
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|3
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|5
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|14
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|15
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|18
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|19
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|21
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|22
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|23
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|—
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|24
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|25
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|26
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|27
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|28
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|29
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|30
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|31
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|32
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|33
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|35
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|36
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|39
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|40
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|41
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|42
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|—
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|43
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|44
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|45
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|46
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|47
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|48
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|49
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|50
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|51
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|52
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|53
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|54
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|55
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|56
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|57
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|58
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|59
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|60
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|61
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|-style="background:#D3D3D3"
|—
| (suspended)
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|62
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|63
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|64
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|65
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|66
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|67
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|68
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|69
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|70
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|71
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|72
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|73
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|74
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|75
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|76
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|77
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|78
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|79
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|80
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|81
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|82
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|83
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|84
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|85
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|86
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|87
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|88
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|89
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|90
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|91
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|92
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|93
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|94
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|95
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|96
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|97
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|98
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|99
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|100
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|101
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|102
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|103
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|104
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|105
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|106
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|107
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|108
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|109
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|110
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|111
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|112
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|113
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|114
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|115
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|116
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|117
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|118
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|119
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|120
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|121
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|122
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|123
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|124
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|125
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|126
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|127
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|128
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|129
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|130
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|131
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|132
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|133
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|134
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|135
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|136
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|137
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|138
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|139
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|140
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|141
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|142
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|143
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|144
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|145
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|146
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|147
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|—
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|148
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|149
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|150
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|151
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|152
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|—
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|153
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|154
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|155
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|156
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|157
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|158
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|159
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|Unknown
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|160
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|Unknown
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|161
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|Unknown
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Bilateral relations
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|-
|
|15 January 1997
|
- The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Costa Rica were established on 15 January 1997.
- The Republic of Azerbaijan is accredited to the Republic of Costa Rica through its embassy in Mexico City, Mexico.
|- valign="top"
||| ||
See China–Costa Rica relations
Costa Rica maintained official relations with the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) instead of the People's Republic of China (commonly known as China) until 1 June 2007, when it opened relations with China. Taiwan then broke relations on 7 June.
- China has an embassy in San José.
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Beijing.
|- valign="top"
|||||
Soon after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, Costa Rican President Mario Echandi Jiménez ended diplomatic relations on 10 September 1961 with the island through Executive Decree Number 2, in compliance with sanctions placed on Cuba by the Organization of American States. In 1995, Costa Rica established a consular office in Havana. Cuba opened a consular office in Costa Rica in 2001. Forty-seven years after the initial freeze, Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez announced on 18 March 2009 that normal relations were to be re-established, saying, "If we have been able to turn the page with regimes as profoundly different to our reality as occurred with the USSR or, more recently, with the Republic of China, how would we not do it with a country that is geographically and culturally much nearer to Costa Rica?" Arias also announced that both countries would exchange ambassadors.Costa Rica re-establishes ties with Cuba CNN World, 18 March 2009. The next day, Cuba's government announced that it agreed to re-establishing relations.
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Havana.
- Cuba has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||||See Costa Rica–India relations
- India has honorary consulate in San José.Indian Honorary Consulate in Costa Rica
- Costa Rica maintains an embassy in New Delhi.Costa Rica Embassy in India
|- valign="top"
|||||See Costa Rica–Israel relations
Costa Rica recognized Israel on 19 June 1948."Israel International Relations: International Recognition of Israel". Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Accessed on 23 December 2015. The Embassy of Costa Rica was located in Tel Aviv until it moved to Jerusalem in 1982. As of 1984, Costa Rica and El Salvador were the only two countries that recognized Israel and also maintained an embassy in Jerusalem. In 2006, the Embassy of Costa Rica relocated to Tel Aviv; Costa Rican President Óscar Arias said the decision was intended to "rectify a historic error".
In December 2011, Rodrigo Carreras became the Costa Rican ambassador to Israel for the second time, after his posting there in the 1980s. Carreras' father, Benjamin Nunez, also served as the Costa Rican ambassador to Israel."Peres: Israel has fantastic respect for Egyptian president ". Costa Rica News. 2010.
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Tel Aviv.
- Israel has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||||See Costa Rica–Italy relations
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Rome.
- Italy has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||23 September 2013||
Costa Rica officially recognised the independence of the Republic of Kosovo on 17 February 2008.Costa Rica se pronuncia por la independencia de Kósovo , Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto, 17 February 2008 (in Spanish) Costa Rica and Kosovo established diplomatic relations on 23 September 2013.
|- valign="top"
|||1838||See Costa Rica–Mexico relations
Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Costa Rica began in 1838.
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Mexico City.
- Mexico has an embassy in San José.Embassy of Mexico in San José (in Spanish)
|- valign="top"
|||||See Costa Rica–Russia relations
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Moscow.
- Russia has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||1952||
- Both countries have established diplomatic relations in 1952.
- A number of bilateral agreements have been concluded and are in force between both countries.
|- valign="top"
|||15 August 1962||
The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Costa Rica began on 15 August 1962.
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Seoul.
- South Korea has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||1850||See Costa Rica–Spain relations
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Madrid.Embassy of Costa Rica in Spain
- Spain has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||15 January 1898||See Costa Rica–Turkey relations
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Ankara.
- Turkey has an embassy in San José.
- Trade volume between the two countries was US$100 million in 2019 (Costa Rican exports/imports: 41.8/58.9 million USD).
|- valign="top"
||| 1848 ||See Costa Rica–United Kingdom relations
Costa Rica established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 28 February 1848.
- Costa Rica maintains an embassy in London.
- The United Kingdom is accredited to Costa Rica from its embassy in San José.
Both countries share common membership of the Atlantic co-operation pact, the International Criminal Court, the OECD, and the World Trade Organization, as well as the Central America–UK Association Agreement.<ref>{{cite web|author=
Foreign & Commonwealth Office|title=UK and Central America sign continuity agreement|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-central-america-sign-continuity-agreement|date=18 July 2019|website=GOV.UK|access-date=24 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718222318/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-central-america-sign-continuity-agreement|archive-date=18 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Bilaterally the two countries have an Investment Agreement.
|- valign="top"
|||||See Costa Rica–United States relations
The United States is Costa Rica's most important trading partner. The U.S. accounts for almost half of Costa Rica's exports, imports, and tourism, and more than two-thirds of its foreign investment. The two countries share growing concerns for the environment and want to preserve Costa Rica's important tropical resources and prevent environmental degradation. In 2007, the United States reduced Costa Rica's debt in exchange for protection and conservation of Costa Rican forests through a debt for nature swap under the auspices of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act. This is the largest such agreement of its kind to date.
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Washington, D.C. and consulates-general in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Juan.Embassy of Costa Rica in Washington, DC (in English and Spanish)
- United States has an embassy in San José.
|- valign="top"
|||||See Costa Rica–Uruguay relations
- Costa Rica has an embassy in Montevideo.
- Uruguay has an embassy in San José.
|}
See also
- List of diplomatic missions in Costa Rica
- List of diplomatic missions of Costa Rica
- Visa requirements for Costa Rican citizens