VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #1061 1552157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 042157Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8182
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 001061 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CS
SUBJECT: COSTA RICA: TITLE III SUSPENSION OF THE 
LIBERTAD ACT 
 
REF: A)STATE 65523, B) 2006 SAN JOSE 2734 
 
¶1.  Costa Rican President Oscar Arias remains 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 no signs that it would consider re-establishing diplomatic 
relations with the Castro government, which were severed in 1961. 
The USG should encourage and bolster Costa Rica's continued support 
for democracy in Cuba.  Suspending Title III of the Libertad Act in 
regard to Costa Rica remains in the USG national interest. 
 
¶2.  Costa Rica's pointed criticism of the Cuban administration has 
continued throughout the past six months.  Costa Rica traded barbs 
with Cuba in December 2006 after President Arias likened Castro to 
Pinochet, declaring "Fidel Castro began with the firing squad, 
killing people who opposed him. There's no difference. The ideology 
is different but both were savages, brutal and bloody."  The 
rhetoric began anew in April and May of 2007 when Castro weighed in 
on Costa Rica's pending referendum to ratify the Central American 
Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), declaring it an opportunity to show 
that the world rejects liberalization and stating further that  the 
referendum would only approve CAFTA if fraud were involved.  Arias 
responded by condemning Cuba's meddling in an internal democratic 
process, stating that Castro's comments "represent a serious affront 
on the residents of a sovereign, democratic, free and independent 
Costa Rica." 
 
¶3.  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) Post is unaware of any exchange programs between Costa Rica and 
Cuba.  A limited number of Costa Rican students have accepted 
scholarships to study medicine and film in Cuba, but Post is unaware 
of any formal exchange or scholarship programs between Cuban and 
Costa Rican universities.  Post is unaware of any Costa Ricans who 
have traveled to Cuba for medical treatment, 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. 
D) Costa Rica has worked to promote democracy and human rights in 
Cuba.  These efforts include President Arias's public statements 
(see above). 
E) Since our last Title III Suspension Report (in December, Ref B), 
there have been no/no high-level Costa Rican diplomatic visits to 
Cuba or  high-level Cuban diplomatic visits to Costa Rica. 
 
LANGDALE