President Joe Biden will host Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves next week at the White House, as the US seeks to deepen ties with a key Latin American partner.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden will host Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves next week at the White House, as the US seeks to deepen ties with a key Latin American partner.
The Aug. 29 meeting will allow Biden and Chaves to “take steps to deepen and strengthen our cooperation on a range of key issues,” including the economy, democracy, regional security and “safe and orderly migration,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The two leaders plan to discuss shared challenges in dealing with mass migration from Central and South America and the US’s desire to prevent China from expanding its influence in the Western Hemisphere, a person familiar with the meeting told Bloomberg News ahead of the announcement.
Chaves is planning to travel to Washington after Biden explored a visit to Costa Rica this month, which did not come to fruition, according to people familiar with the plans.
The Biden administration is eager to improve ties with partner nations as part of its self-described great power competition with China, which has sought to grow its presence in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
The US has also relied on Costa Rica to help curb the flow of migrants to the southwest border after record numbers of encounters with US border agents. Migrants from South America in recent years have crossed through dense jungle in Panama’s Darien Gap and then into Costa Rica en route to the US.
The Biden administration and Chaves’s government reached an agreement in June to open some legal pathways to the US for Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants waiting in Costa Rica for asylum, a deal aimed at reducing strain on Costa Rica’s overburdened asylum system and discouraging migrants from continuing their journey to the US-Mexico border.
–With assistance from Michael McDonald.
(Updates story, headlines to reflect White House announcement of meeting)
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