Colombia seeks to strengthen ties with Costa Rica

Tuesday September 11 th 2011

Negotiations between the two countries will begin in Colombia on July 30.

The President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, and her Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos, signed a bilateral agreement in Escazú. Chinchilla and Santos will begin negotiations for a free trade agreement in July.

After the visit of the President of Colombia, a free trade agreement is being negotiated between Costa Rica and the South American country.

The Presidents Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, and Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, met on Friday for talks towards a free trade agreement that could bring millions of dollars in investment. They also discussed the drug war, security, and environmental protection in their brief encounter.

Chinchilla ensured to the Colombian President that the proposal would include the elimination of the visa requirement for Colombians wishing to travel to Costa Rica. The offer - which would allow Colombians to enter Costa Rica with a passport - was received with some controversy.

The announcement is viewed with concern by some officers, such as the former Minister of Public Security, Alvaro Ramos, who said: "Costa Rica should analyze the decision to open the doors to all kinds of citizens of that country."

In addition, the United Nations Agency for Refugees said that a total of 227 Colombians entered Costa Rica as refugees in 2011, and eliminating the entry visas would increase the number. The UN agency wants the government of Costa Rica to be sure that it has required controls to handle the influx of Colombians visitors. Panama is the only country in the isthmus where Colombians can enter without a visa.

Colombians make up the second largest foreign population in Costa Rica, after Nicaraguans. Out of the 386,000 immigrants living in the country, 4.3 percent –that is16 600- are Colombians, according to the 2011 census.

With the growing relations between Costa Rica and Colombia, Chinchilla considered a "shared vision of development", and the similarities "provide the basis to establish a lasting partnership." "Our relationship continues to grow stronger in the political arena, and now within the commercial area; we will work together in the forums where we share interests," Chinchilla said.

Costa Rica’s exports to Colombia grew by 12.1 percent in 2011 compared to the past two years, but the trade balance strongly favors Colombia, according to official figures.

In 2011, the sales of Costa Rica to Colombia were $ 48.2 million, versus $ 455.7 million in imports.The two presidents, accompanied by their ministers of foreign policy, trade, environment and security, discussed other issues of bilateral interest, such as combating drug trafficking and the protection of marine resources.

On the issue of environment, both governments agreed to continue the cooperation to combat illegal fishing and shark finning."The ocean issue will be precisely one of the specific topics to discuss in the Rio +20 Summit [held this week in Brazil], because if we continue destroying the seas, we will have waters without fish," Santos stated.

On the issue of security, Santos stressed that countries must join forces to prevail in the battle being waged against organized crime. Costa Rica, like the rest of Central America, is a bridge to the Colombian cocaine cartels transporting the product to the world's largest drug consumer, the United States.

"This is a transnational crime and the more cooperation we have, the more effective we will be," said the Colombian president. "Colombia has accumulated, at a high price, great experience in this fight, and we want to share it with Costa Rica."