A conversation with

His Excellency Luis Guillermo Solís

President of the Republic of Costa Rica

As a nation of relative prosperity, safety and stability in Central America, Costa Rica has long attracted large numbers of migrants from the region. In recent years, it has drawn a growing influx from several Caribbean countries as well as from Africa and Asia, including some 22,000 Cubans seeking a route to the United States in 2015. The more than 400,000 immigrants residing in Costa Rica make up nearly ten percent of the country’s population. It should not be surprising that immigration issues are taking on increasing political and economic importance and posing new foreign policy challenges for Costa Rica within Central America and with the United States, Mexico, Cuba, and other nations.

Join us for a wide-ranging discussion with President Solis on the multiple immigration challenges confronting Costa Rica, their impact on the country’s politics, economy, and international relations, and how the current administration is proposing to deal with them.

Follow this event on Twitter at #SolisInDC and @The_Dialogue. 

This event is hosted in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin American Program