Central America · Trade & Energy
Key Facts
—The announcement: Panama Costa Rica relations took a sharp turn Thursday when Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino said at his weekly morning press conference that Panama had suspended electricity sales to Costa Rica with immediate effect, stating in plain terms that “for the moment, there is no power sale to Costa Rica, it is that simple,” and invoking the principle of “reciprocity” in international relations as the formal justification for the move.
—The trigger: The decision followed Costa Rica president Laura Fernández’s May 15 declaration, during her first week in office, that she would activate “all available international mechanisms” to lift the Panamanian commercial blockade applied since 2019-2020 to Costa Rican agricultural exports including bananas, plantains, pineapples, strawberries, dairy products, meats and processed sausages.
—The underlying request: The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, the Costa Rican state electricity utility known as ICE, had filed a formal request with Panamanian authorities seeking expanded access to Panamanian power for 2026; the request was under active evaluation by the Panamanian energy regulator until Mulino instructed Commerce Minister Julio Moltó on Monday to communicate the suspension to the Costa Rican counterpart.
