U.S. and Costa Rica Affirm Cooperation on Migration and Semiconductors

President Joe Biden met with the leader of Costa Rica on Tuesday to discuss concerns from home and abroad, including the toll that irregular migration is taking on the small Central American country and the challenges posed by heightened global ambitions. from China, which are based on semiconductors.

Biden was quick to hail the relationship the United States and Costa Rica have built over the past year.

“A little over a year ago in California, we united with our partners in the region for the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection,” Biden said from the Oval Office, where he spoke. met Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Tuesday afternoon. “You’ve done an amazing job since, you’ve been a great partner.”

Chaves echoed those warm sentiments.

“Costa Rica has been and will remain one of the strongest allies in the world when it comes to your economic and security interests which are ours,” he said.

The White House says the two nations also align ideologically.

“Costa Rica has been a regional leader,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary. “It’s a strong democracy with a thriving economy and leading by example when it comes to managing migration.”

The leaders had serious issues to discuss, such as the challenges posed by a flood of migrants crossing Costa Rica en route to the United States. Earlier in the year, Chaves said his country needed help.

“What we need to do is ask countries like the United States to help us achieve what we want: to be good international citizens, good citizens of the world, a country that continues to be generous, but the costs become immense.” he said. “Let there be clearer signals in the United States.”

And analysts say the small coastal nation – famous for its beaches and biodiversity – also has a role to play in countering China’s economic ambitions.

A program funded by Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which aims to counter China, sees Costa Rica as a partner in manufacturing semiconductors: chips so small they measure in nanometers but that power machines capable of flying to the moon.

“Recently, the United States announced that Costa Rica would receive funds from the so-called ‘ITSI’ Fund, which is part of the CHIPS and Science Act, to help it develop parts of its semi-automatic supply chains. -drivers,” said Ryan Berg. , Director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He pointed out that Costa Rica is not new to this sector.

“Intel, in particular, has operations in Costa Rica,” he said. “So we’re not trying to build something from scratch. There is a foundation on which to build. And I think a lot of the proof will be in the training programs themselves, whether Costa Rica can develop the human capital needed to attract more spending in this area.