Fernandez fires Tovar and apologises for missing Trump's meeting
President Laura Fernandez dismissed Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar after he attended Donald Trump's Shield of the Americas meeting in New York without telling her. Al Jazeera says the government called that a strategic harm which kept Fernandez out of the Tuesday session. La Nación reports she then apologised to US ambassador Melinda Hildebrand. Foreign Trade Minister Indiana Trejos becomes acting foreign minister.
Geopolitics··Evening
Fernandez removes Tovar the same week
Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez dismissed Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar after he attended Donald Trump's Shield of the Americas meeting in New York without prior notice, Al Jazeera reported on 24 September. La Nación, in a Thursday account, says she justified the dismissal because the minister had not told her about a meeting the United States called with heads of state in the initiative known as Escudo de las Américas. Al Jazeera says the government called the omission the reason Fernandez herself could not attend, and described strategic harm to the country's interests. The session was held on Tuesday alongside the UN General Assembly. Fernandez has been in office since May.[1], [2]
She apologises to the US ambassador
La Nación says Fernandez used an official event at the Golfito marina, with US ambassador Melinda Hildebrand present, to apologise for missing the 22 September session in New York. She said she regretted her absence from the meeting the United States called, that the failure to pass her the invitation had not been overlooked, and that the foreign minister was dismissed the same day. Al Jazeera quotes the government as saying Tovar attended without giving prior notice or informing the president. La Nación says the presidential house called that handling inadequate. The two accounts name the same Tuesday session and the same dismissal.[2], [1]
Trejos steps in from the trade ministry
Al Jazeera says Foreign Trade Minister Indiana Trejos becomes acting foreign minister and will take the role when she returns from the General Assembly. Tovar thanked Fernandez and did not comment on the dismissal. La Nación's addition is the apology to ambassador Hildebrand, not a different firing. Al Jazeera's addition is the successor and Tovar's silence. The alliance, Al Jazeera notes, says it fights drug trafficking and organised crime.[1], [2]
