Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invited President Laura Fernández to a New York meeting of the Shield of the Americas. It hasn’t said when the invitation reached her office. Fernández missed the 22 September session, which covered organised crime, drug cartels, irregular migration and outside powers in the hemisphere. The ministry confirmed the invitation entered diplomatic channels, but that doesn’t establish whether the president saw it before registration closed on 19 September.
Who Received the Invitation
The ministry gave La Nación a copy on Friday, 9 October, after the newspaper asked for it. Addressed to a head of state or government, the invitation named U.N. Headquarters at 405 East 42nd Street and set the meeting for 2 p.m. Rubio sent it in his name. The ministry said: “We are sharing the respective invitation sent virtually by the State Department, passed on through ordinary diplomatic channels.”
Officials haven’t disclosed when the invitation arrived at the ministry or when anyone forwarded it to Casa Presidencial. Fernández has blamed an “error” in passing it to her, but hasn’t said who received it or when. So the available account leaves a central question open: did she or her staff have time to respond before registration closed?
Fernández was in Barranquilla, Colombia, on 22 September for security talks with Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella. In a 21 July interview, she had said she would skip the U.N. General Assembly to focus on issues at home. At an official event at the Golfito marina, she apologised to U.S. Ambassador Melinda Hildebrand for missing the Shield meeting.
A Coalition Agenda, and an Unclear Briefing
Donald Trump launched the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas in Doral, Florida, on 7 March 2026, according to the San José news site Delfino. The New York session marked its second meeting. Rubio said Trump would join later; Trump arrived after the session began and led part of it. The invitation card didn’t mention Trump, and the State Department’s public schedule, released the evening before, listed only Rubio’s meeting with Shield heads of state and foreign ministers. CR Hoy reported that the official agenda did not mention Trump.
The coalition’s agenda includes organised crime, drug cartels, irregular migration and the influence of outside powers in the hemisphere. Fifteen participating governments issued a joint declaration against 24 groups they described as narco-terrorist. They also said they would seek a consultation at the Organization of American States under the Rio Treaty, a 1947 mutual-defence pact. The source reports no change to Costa Rica’s migration rules or other national policies because of the dispute.
Dismissal After the Meeting
Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar led Costa Rica’s delegation in New York and had spoken publicly about the meeting at least since 17 September. Fernández dismissed him on 24 September. Casa Presidencial said: “Tovar attended the session without giving prior notice or informing the President of the Republic of his participation.” It said his negligence caused “great strategic damage” by keeping Fernández out of the session.
Tovar hasn’t given his account of events since his dismissal. Apart from a brief farewell message, his only public comment has been a Bible verse on X: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He hasn’t answered La Nación’s interview requests.
Paraguay announced on 18 September that President Santiago Peña would attend, and the Dominican Republic listed President Luis Abinader’s participation the next day. The report says nothing suggested Costa Rica was leaving the Shield of the Americas; it also says no visa, travel, trade or investment rules had changed because of the dispute. The record establishes an invitation, a missed meeting and a dismissal, but the route the invitation took inside Costa Rica’s government remains unclear.