Security & Strategic Review - May 2026

In April the first 25 migrants from third countries arrived in Costa Rica under a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed the previous month with Washington, whereby Costa Rica would accept up to 25 third country nationals deported from the US per week. The MoU follows a similar deal struck last year which proved very controversial [SSR-25-04]. It was one of the final efforts of right-wing former president Rodrigo Chaves (2022-2026), who was replaced on 8 May by his ally, President Laura Fernández, to shore up ties with the US administration led by President Donald Trump. Chaves also signed up to the new Shield of the Americas security initiative that Trump launched the previous month with right-leaning regional leaders [SSR-26-04].