LATIN AMERICA CORNER
FIRST VISIT OF A VICE-PRESIDENT
FROM INDIA TO COSTA RICA
7, 8 AND 9 MARCH 2019
BY EDUARDO SALGADO RETANA*
T
he Republic of Costa Rica is located in Central
America, has a population of 5 million inhabitants
that have a GDP per capita PPP of US $ 16,142. Its
extension of only 51,100 square km sheltered by the Atlantic
ocean to the east and the Pacifi c to the west, constitutes
a tropical paradise that contains 5 percent of the planet's
biodiversity and three UNESCO World Heritage sites. Its
permanent blue sky, the green of its vegetation, rivers,
volcanoes and the hospitality of its people, have made
tourism the main economic activity of this beautiful country.
Despite all this, never before had a Vice President of India
come to this land.
But there is always a fi rst time and it is so that on Thursday
March 7, 2019, a milestone was made in the diplomatic
history between Costa Rica and India; that day the current
Indian Vice President, Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, arrived
on Costa Rican soil, a fact that became the fi rst high-level
visit of India to the Costa Rican territory.
56 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 4 • April-May 2019, Noida