Costa Rica minister fired for unapproved meeting with Trump in US

President Laura Fernandez of Costa Rica removed Manuel Tovar as foreign minister after he took part in a New York gathering of President Donald Trump's anti-cartel coalition without telling her beforehand. Fernandez said she should have represented Costa Rica at the event herself, and her government said Tovar's silence about his plans kept her from attending and did serious damage to the country's strategic standing. Tovar did not address the reasons for his removal, only thanking Fernandez, who took office last May, for having placed him in her cabinet, according to Al Jazeera.

The meeting brought together Trump and several right-leaning Latin American leaders as part of his "Shield of the Americas" initiative, which is billed as a joint effort against drug trafficking and organized crime, and took place alongside this year's UN General Assembly gathering. Fifteen countries in the coalition signed a joint statement pledging asset freezes, visa bans and criminal prosecution efforts targeting members and backers of 24 criminal groups.

The episode came against the backdrop of Trump's broader crackdown since retaking office, which has included labeling cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and authorizing numerous strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that officials allege were smuggling drugs toward the United States. Costa Rica, traditionally regarded as one of Latin America's more stable and tourism-friendly nations, has recently faced rising drug-linked violence, and Fernandez is a political ally of Trump.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Al Jazeera’s reporting. Read the full story at Al Jazeera →