The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, referred to the results obtained by left-leaning parties in elections in El Salvador and Costa Rica, on 2 February. EFE / File
The Costa Rican foreign ministry issued a statement that, “Costa Rica is a country of peace and does not understand the reason for the unfounded attacks on an unarmed democracy, which lacks knowledge of the history and the fundamental essence of the cultural identity of our people.” The statement came in response to comments made by Morales in which he qualified Costa Rica as a colony of the United States that had also been disarmed by the U.S.
The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry said that this country has never been an American colony and between 1856 and 1857 fought to expel U.S. filibusters under William Walker, who tried to invade Central America. Also, Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948, after a civil war in which the United States did not play a role.