The Trump administration has revoked tourist visas for five of seven board members at La Nación, Costa Rica's largest newspaper, in what media advocates are calling a direct assault on press freedom in the Central American country.
La Nación has been a persistent thorn in the side of Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves, a close Trump ally. During Chaves's 2022 campaign, the paper published detailed reporting on allegations of sexual harassment that led to his resignation from the World Bank, as well as claims of illegal campaign financing that Chaves has denied.
Since taking office, Chaves has turned on the outlet with remarkable ferocity. He has called La Nación "despicable press" and "political assassins," and has weaponized the government's regulatory power by withdrawing a sanitation permit for an event space operated by the newspaper's parent company.
Board president Pedro Abreu confirmed the visa cancellations in an email statement. "This is completely unprecedented," he said. "We see it as an indirect attack on press freedom because of the effect it can have on an independent media outlet and on those who have the institutional responsibility to protect it." The other two board members hold passports from visa-exempt countries.
The timing suggests Washington's hand in the decision. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Costa Rica last year to praise Chaves for a decree blocking Chinese firms from the country's 5G network. During that visit, Rubio told Chaves, "We're going to try to work in cooperation with you. To impose costs on those within the country who use their positions of authority to undermine the interests of the people of Costa Rica."
Weeks later, opposition lawmakers who had opposed Chaves's decree found their own visas revoked.
The visa cancellations are not an isolated incident. Mauricio Herrera, a former Costa Rican communications minister, described a broader pattern of American pressure against political opponents. The list includes Óscar Arias, a two-time Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose visa was also cancelled. Washington also barred Arias's brother Rodrigo, who serves as both president of the legislative assembly and a supreme court justice.
Felipe Alpízar, coordinator of the Observatory of American Politics at the University of Costa Rica, called the move "extremely serious." He characterized it as "the United States eroding the foundations of political discussion in Costa Rica, of freedom of expression, of freedom of the press."
The State Department has not responded to requests for comment on the visa revocations.
The targeting of La Nación's board arrives as Chaves prepares to hand power to his chosen successor, Laura Fernández, who is set to take office later this week. Analysts worry the shift signals an acceleration of anti-opposition measures. Herrera expressed particular concern about the incoming administration. "My fear is that in the near future they will revoke visas of opposition members of parliament and the rectors of public universities," he said. "I would like to think that this is going to stop, but nothing indicates that it will."
Author James Rodriguez: "Washington is openly flexing muscle in Central America to punish a newspaper for doing journalism, and the silence from press freedom advocates in the US has been deafening."
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