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President Laura Fernandez dismissed Costa Rica's foreign minister on Thursday after he attended a regional security meeting in New York chaired by US President Donald Trump without her knowledge or approval.
Fernandez said Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar's decision to attend the gathering, held as part of Trump's anti-cartel Shield of the Americas alliance, without consulting her first had caused what she called "great strategic damage" to Costa Rica.
Fernandez said it was she, not her foreign minister, who should have represented Costa Rica at the meeting.
Her comments framed Tovar's attendance not simply as a breach of protocol but as an overstep that undermined her own role in shaping the country's position within the US-led security initiative.
According to Fernandez, Tovar acted without informing her that he planned to take part in the New York meeting.
She did not elaborate publicly on further specifics of the encounter or what commitments, if any, were made on Costa Rica's behalf, but her decision to remove him from office reflected the severity with which she viewed the lapse.
The Shield of the Americas alliance, chaired by Trump, has been described as a regional effort targeting drug cartels. Details of the initiative's scope, membership and objectives beyond the New York meeting were not immediately available.
Costa Rica, a Central American nation governed under a presidential system, conducts its foreign policy through the president's office in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Fernandez's dismissal of Tovar marks a significant shake-up in her Cabinet amid the country's engagement with the US-backed security effort.
No successor to Tovar was named in connection with Thursday's announcement.
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