The United States Embassy in Costa Rica responded to a series of posts circulating on social media claiming that the State Department had revoked visas from Costa Rican officials who currently hold public office.
The diplomatic mission described those reports as "false rumors" and recalled that only communications issued through official channels can be considered positions of the U.S. government.
"The United States Embassy is aware of false posts circulating online claiming that the U.S. State Department has revoked the visas of serving Costa Rican officials. These are false rumors," the diplomatic mission stated in a message published on its official X account.
The statement was released after several days in which reports circulated about possible immigration measures against members of the Costa Rican government.
In its post, the Embassy did not identify which specific messages prompted the denial, nor did it mention the names of the officials referenced in the posts.
In its message, the U.S. diplomatic mission also called on the public to carefully verify the origin of any information attributed to Washington.
"Only official U.S. government accounts speak on behalf of the U.S. government," the Embassy noted.
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The United States Embassy in Costa Rica labeled as "false rumors" the publications claiming that visas had been revoked from sitting officials. (Courtesy)
The United States Embassy in Costa Rica stepped in to counter a series of publications spread on social media claiming that the State Department had revoked visas from Costa Rican officials currently holding public office. The diplomatic mission described those reports as "false rumors" and reminded that only communications issued through official channels can be considered positions of the U.S. government.
"The United States Embassy is aware of false publications circulating online, which claim that the U.S. State Department has revoked the visas of sitting Costa Rican officials. These are false rumors," the diplomatic mission stated in a message posted on its official X account.
The statement was released after several days in which reports circulated about possible immigration measures against members of the Costa Rican government. The Embassy did not identify in its publication which specific messages prompted the denial, nor did it mention the names of the officials referenced in the publications.
In its message, the U.S. mission also called for carefully verifying the origin of any information attributed to Washington.
"Only the official accounts of the U.S. government speak on behalf of the government of the United States," the Embassy noted. It also added that "statements from unofficial or unverified sources should be considered mere rumors."
Part of the rumors spread on social media referred to an alleged revocation of the visa of Rodrigo Chaves Robles, currently a member of the Costa Rican cabinet. Credit: Screenshot, Legislative Assembly
Part of the reports spread on social media referred to an alleged withdrawal of the U.S. visa from Rodrigo Chaves Robles, who currently heads the ministries of Finance and the Presidency in the administration of Laura Fernández Delgado. The president addressed the issue during a solemn session of the Council of Government held in Puntarenas and publicly thanked the Embassy for its statement. Fernández attributed the reports to her political adversaries and maintained that the aim of the messages was to create divisions within her administration.
"And I also take this opportunity to thank the Madam Ambassador for her kindness in confirming in writing and debunking some of the nonsense from the political enemies of this government, who went around saying that they were taking away our visa," the president said.
Fernández also referred directly to the publications concerning Chaves.
"Nothing more ridiculous than what they made up, that they were going to take away don Rodrigo's visa, that they were going to take away his visa," she said. The president added that, in her view, the messages sought to "divide us," and she questioned the spread of reports through WhatsApp chains and social media posts.
President Laura Fernández Delgado publicly thanked the denial and asserted that the reports sought to create divisions within her government. Credit: Screenshot, Presidency of the Republic
The statement comes in a context in which the United States has indeed revoked visas from several Costa Rican public figures since 2025, although those precedents are independent of the publications debunked this week. In April 2025, the United States revoked the visa of former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias Sánchez. The measure had previously also affected political figures such as Francisco Nicolás, Johana Obando, and Cynthia Córdoba. Later, the United States withdrew entry permission from Ana Sofía Machuca Flores, comptroller general of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity. In July 2025, revocations also became known involving Rodrigo Arias Sánchez and constitutional magistrates Paul Rueda and Fernando Cruz.
During 2026, other cases linked to Costa Rican figures also came to light. In May, members of the board of directors of the newspaper La Nación reported that the United States had revoked their visas, a decision that prompted public questioning about the criteria used by Washington.
U.S. authorities have traditionally maintained discretion regarding individual visa decisions. In various cases, the Embassy in San José has avoided publicly detailing the specific reasons behind a revocation, due to the confidential nature of these immigration procedures.
The denial also came one day after the United States announced visa cancellations for judges, prosecutors, senior officials, and businesspeople from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.