Costa Rican lawmaker says the US revoked her visa over alleged ties to Chinese Communist Party
Vanessa Castro of the opposition Social Christian Unity Party, speaking in the Legislative Assembly, denied such ties and said that media outlets allied with President Rodrigo Chaves knew her U.S. visa had been revoked before she did.
Castro was one of several Costa Rican figures who came forward Wednesday to say their U.S. visas had been cancelled, including the president of the Congress, who belongs to the opposition National Liberation Party, and two justices on the Supreme Court's constitutional chamber who have issued rulings that Chaves disliked.
'I went and I checked and they told me in the embassy that they had received information that, among other things, I had connections with members of the Chinese Communist Party,' Castro said. 'You all know me, I have a pretty public life, can you imagine I have a relationship with members of the Chinese Communist Party?'
She also noted that she had supported U.S.-Costa Rica initiatives like a regional free trade agreement and joint patrols against drug traffickers.
Castro said media outlets that support Chaves' administration showed up at her office to ask about the visa before she had even been notified.
The U.S. embassy said its policy is to not comment on individual visa cases.
Chaves played up the visa cancellations Wednesday, saying that 'it seemed extremely embarrassing to him that' such important political figures as Castro and Congress President Rodrigo Arias should be unable to travel to the United States.
In April, former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias, Rodrigo Arias' brother, said the U.S. had cancelled his visa without explanation. He speculated that Washington may not have liked his comments on the war in Ukraine, the U.S. trade conflict with China, or the situation in Gaza.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his first overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat to Central America in February and curbing China's influence in the region was one of the trip's central talking points.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
State Dept. Opens Investigation Into Harvard's Use of International Visas
The Trump administration has opened a new investigation into Harvard University's compliance with a government-run visa program for international students and professors, targeting the elite college with the third aggressive action since the two sides restarted talks to end their acrimonious dispute. Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified Dr. Alan M. Garber, the president of Harvard, of the investigation in a letter on Wednesday, according to a copy of the correspondence reviewed by The New York Times. Mr. Rubio did not refer to any specific allegation of wrongdoing and instead said the inquiry was necessary 'to assist the department in meeting its policy objectives.' The investigation targets the university's participation in the Exchange Visitor Program, which is designed to promote cultural and educational programs with visas for a variety of applicants, including students and professors as well as researchers, interns and au pairs. Mr. Rubio gave Harvard a one-week deadline to produce a lengthy list of university records related to the student visa program. He said the department plans to interview university staff associated with the program and also may want to speak with visa holders. A Harvard spokesman did not immediately comment. A State Department spokeswoman declined to comment. Officials from Harvard and the Trump administration have exchanged multiple offers since last month as they have explored a potential deal over the government's role in admissions, hiring and curriculum. The details of the negotiations remain unclear as talks continue. Since those talks started, the Education and Health and Human Services Departments opened a challenge to the university's accreditation, which could someday jeopardize the ability of Harvard students to receive federal student aid. And U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has served subpoenas to Harvard with sprawling demands that included payroll records, years of disciplinary files and any videos Harvard had of international students protesting on campus since 2020. Mr. Rubio has also become increasingly involved in President Trump's pressure campaign on Harvard and with the administration's campaign around higher education more broadly. Mr. Rubio has privately pressed for his counterparts at the Treasury Department to open an investigation into whether Harvard violated federal sanctions by collaborating on a health insurance conference in China that may have included officials blacklisted by the U.S. government. The State Department has started screening social media accounts of student visa applicants. Mr. Rubio has also stated that the State Department would target visas held by Chinese students, an initiative complicated by Mr. Trump's announcement that Chinese students are welcome to study in America as part of his trade deal with Beijing.
New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
Hoping to Visit the U.S.? It Might Cost You an Extra $250.
Millions of foreign visitors to the United States, including travelers from Mexico, India, Brazil and China, will be subject to a new $250 visa fee as part of a spate of changes introduced by the Trump administration's recently enacted domestic policy bill. The fee, which may be refundable, will apply to nonimmigrant visa categories, including foreign tourists, business travelers and students. It will not apply to most visitors from Canada or to visitors covered by the United States' visa-waiver program, which includes much of Europe and a handful of countries in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere. The tourism industry is bracing for the impact of the new fee. Even tourism leaders who supported the bill's aims to shore up U.S. immigration rules balked at the fees as an unnecessary impediment to international travel. Concerns have also proliferated among international soccer fans in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Here's what to know about the new fee. Who will have to pay the $250 fee? The charge, called a 'visa integrity fee,' will apply to any foreign national who requires a nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States. That includes business visitors, vacationers, temporary workers, students and medical tourists, among other categories. The $250 fee will be levied in addition to the $185 cost of the nonimmigrant visa itself. Some 11 million visitors were issued nonimmigrant visas in 2024, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of State. Visitors from countries that participate in the visa-waiver program, which includes most of Europe, as well as Australia, Chile, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among other countries, will not be subject to the fee. Most Canadian visitors will also be unaffected. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
a day ago
- Fox News
Salvadoran president responds to Hunter Biden's invasion threat: What is he 'sniffing'?
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele responded late Monday to having his country under the threat of invasion from a future "President Hunter Biden." Bukele, who has emerged as a top ally of President Donald Trump and a partner in the U.S. leader's mass deportation operations targeting illegal immigrants, appeared to laugh off the threat. "Is Hunter Biden sniffing powdered milk?" Bukele replied on X, where he shared a snippet of Biden's interview with podcaster Andrew Callaghan. "These guys think that we need to run away from all values in order for us to lead," Biden fumed in the clip, initially speaking about the conservative right. "I say, f--- you. How are we getting those people back from f---ing El Salvador?" "Because I'll tell you what, if I became president… I would pick up the phone and call the f---ing president of El Salvador and say, 'You either f---ing send [illegal immigrants imprisoned in CECOT penitentiary] back or I'm going to f---ing invade." Biden then accused Trump and Bukele of a "f---ing crime" and labeled both men "f---ing dictator-thug[s]." The retort called back to Biden's history of drug use, which notably included a revelation he made to CBS that he would smoke "anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine," including "more Parmesan cheese than anyone you know." Biden's interview touched on that history, including the incident in which he swore on a federal firearms form that he was not using controlled substances at the time of purchase. Bukele followed up by sharing news coverage of a three-party prisoner swap between the U.S., El Salvador and Venezuela, to illustrate ongoing cooperation with the U.S.'s current leadership. "Maduro's regime was satisfied with the exchange agreement; that's why they accepted it," Bukele said, adding that Caracas strongman Nicolas Maduro's regime now "shout[s] and express[es] outrage – but not because they disagree with the deal, rather because they just realized they are left without hostages from the most powerful country in the world." Bukele had agreed to fly Venezuelan deportees from the U.S. who had been held at CECOT back to Caracas, as the Maduro regime in turn released several Americans being held captive. Venezuela had not initially been accepting of deported illegal immigrant nationals captured by U.S. authorities. Ten U.S. citizens or legal-permanent residents, who had been held by Maduro, were released, according Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world. It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed U.S. nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process," Rubio said in a statement. Bukele also highlighted a clip of U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler calling him a "good friend" of the U.S.
