Costa Rica Ambassador Fernando Llorca had a meeting with the Office of Consular Affairs in response to an agreement between President Carlos Alvarado and US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, regarding checking into if the country’s reclassification to a higher travel alert was correct.
Llorca presented compelling information, such as that Costa Rica has managed to decrease the murder rate and the amount of tourist robberies. In addition, it is the most successful country in the region for the joint confiscation of drugs. In spite of these achievements, the alert level for those traveling to Costa Rica was raised from “take normal precautions” to “use increased care.”
The change was not a result of comparing Costa Rica’s condition year over year, rather it was due to changes in the criteria to evaluate nations, something that will affect the alert type on most nations. It is very difficult to go back to the original recommended level of care.
There is no expected impact on tourism attraction to the country, as these are not notes on the country rather recommendations, such as “Be attentive to your surroundings during your stay abroad.”
