President claims Costa Rica is 'up to date' on rights, plans to pull country from UN diversity forums.

2026 June 3

President Laura Fernandez, defending the appointment of Boris Marchegiani as Costa Rica’s representative to the United Nations, said she no longer wants the country to participate in international forums focused on rights and diversity, claiming Costa Rica is already “up to date” on these matters. She stated: “I no longer want to see Costa Rica in those forums related to rights, diversities and those things where the country is, thank God, up to date. Here we treat all people equally without distinction of their sexual preference.” On the same occasion she declared, “I no longer want more Agenda 2030 sneaking in through the back door in Costa Rica.”

The statement signals an intent to distance Costa Rica from United Nations spaces dedicated to the promotion of human rights, equality, and diversity, extending a pattern that earlier in 2026 saw the country withdraw from the Organization of American States LGBTI Core Group.

Civil society organizations rejected the president’s characterization. The ANEP-Diversidad union section responded that “saying that in Costa Rica all people are treated equally and enjoy the same rights is a false statement,” and that “real equality has not yet been achieved.” It noted that discrimination persists in employment, education, healthcare, and housing, and that trans and non-binary people in particular face barriers to employment, healthcare, and economic opportunity. The union also pointed to the absence of comprehensive legislation specifically sanctioning discrimination based on gender identity and expression, and gaps in protection against hate speech and in the collection of data on hate-motivated violence. Giovanni Delgado, of the Pride Committee, argued in an opinion piece that the country remains far from being “up to date” on the rights of trans and other LGBTIQ+ people.

2026 June 3

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