VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #2737 3421545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081545Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6805
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 002737 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CS
SUBJECT: COSTA RICA: SUSPENSION OF TITLE III OF THE 
LIBERTAD ACT 
 
REF: A. STATE 191752 
 
     ¶B. SAN JOSE 2223 (NOTAL) 
     ¶C. SAN JOSE 1955 
 
¶1.  Since returning to the presidency in May 2006, Costa 
Rican President Oscar Arias has been one of the region's 
leading critics of the Castro government and a strong 
advocate for democratic change and human rights reforms in 
Cuba.  Costa Rica shows absolutely no signs that it would 
consider re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Castro 
government, which were severed in 1961.  Opposition to 
oppressive regimes in general, and to those "in the 
neighborhood" in particular, are fully consistent with Costa 
Rica's well-developed democratic principles.  The USG should 
encourage and bolster Costa Rica's continued support for 
democracy in Cuba.  Therefore, suspending Title III of the 
Libertad Act in regard to Costa Rica remains in the USG 
national interest. 
 
¶2.  During the latter half of 2006, Costa Rica continued its 
long-standing opposition to the Castro regime, sharpened by 
Arias's return to power.  At Colombian President Uribe's 
inaugural in early August, Arias (unsuccessfully) tried to 
engage Cuban Council of Ministers VP Lage on the future of 
Cuba.  In an August 29 Op-ed in the Miami Herald, Arias 
criticized Cuba as "the only exception in the great Latin 
American transformation toward liberty," described the 
government as "plain and simple, a dictatorship," and 
stressed that "the Cuban people deserve to choose their own 
destiny."  Following a meeting in San Jose with USOAS 
Ambassador Maisto on September 29, (Ref B), Arias told the 
media that he would use international fora to continue to 
call for democracy in the entire hemisphere. 
 
¶3.  At the same time, Costa Rica, in solidarity with other 
Latin American nations, has not been afraid to criticize USG 
policy on Cuba.  Arias's op-ed called for an end to the U.S. 
embargo as a "strategic step" towards an orderly transition 
of power.  The GOCR also continued to support calls in the UN 
General Assembly an end to the economic embargo.  These 
tactics in no way reflect Costa Rican support for the Castro 
regime, but are rather a disagreement over tactics, i.e., how 
best to create the conditions for a democratic transition 
(Ref C). 
 
¶4.  The following responses are keyed to Ref A questions: 
 
A) Post is unaware of any Costa Rican investments in Cuba. 
B) Post is unaware of any bilateral trade agreements between 
Costa Rica and Cuba. 
C) Scholarships to study medicine in Cuba have been offered 
to Costa Rican students in the past, but Post is unaware of 
any students who have accepted these scholarships, given the 
ready availability of public university programs in Costa 
Rica.  Post is unaware of any Costa Ricans who have traveled 
to Cuba for medical treatment, again given the availability 
of publicly subsidized health care in Costa Rica.  At any 
given time, there are between six and ten Cuban doctors 
working in Costa Rican hospitals, most of them providing 
radiological treatment at Hospital Mexico in San Jose.  One 
defected in early 2006 and was promptly granted residency in 
Costa Rica. 
D) Costa Rica has worked to promote democracy and human 
rights in Cuba.  These efforts include President Arias's 
public statements (see above). 
E) Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno attended the 
14th Non-Aligned Movement's Summit meeting in Havana in 
September.  There were no/no high-level Cuban diplomatic 
visits to Costa Rica. 
 
FRISBIE 
FRISBIE