The United States government has revoked the visas of Rodrigo Arias, president of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly, and Paul Rueda, a justice of the Constitutional Chamber, expanding the list of Costa Rican officials affected by such measures in 2025.

The Constitutional Chamber confirmed the cancellation of Justice Rueda’s visa but stated it would not issue further comments. Meanwhile, local media reported the case of Rodrigo Arias, who has led the Assembly for the past three years and maintained a critical stance toward President Rodrigo Chaves’s administration.

Visa revocations against Costa Rican political figures began following a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to San José in February. During the trip, Rubio warned of potential sanctions against those collaborating with foreign actors that could pose a risk to U.S. cybersecurity.

While in Costa Rica, Rubio praised President Chaves for halting Chinese companies’ involvement in major tech infrastructure projects, including the development of 5G networks.

Since then, the U.S. has also revoked visas of lawmakers Francisco Nicolás (National Liberation Party), Johana Obando and Cynthia Córdoba (Progressive Liberal Party), as well as Ana Sofía Machuca, general auditor of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute. All were accused of allegedly favoring Chinese firm Huawei in 5G-related tenders—criticism led by President Chaves and members of his cabinet.

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In April, even former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias, brother of Rodrigo Arias, had his visa revoked. Arias has publicly criticized the U.S. over its military spending and, more recently, the immigration and trade policies of President Donald Trump.

As with previous cases, the U.S. government has not disclosed the specific reasons behind the visa revocations.

Health authorities in Panama reported on Wednesday that the country has recorded a total of 6,458 dengue cases and 10 related deaths through epidemiological week 25, which spanned from June 15 to 21, 2025.

Of the total reported cases, 576 patients required hospitalization, and 55 cases have been classified as severe, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Health (Minsa).

The metropolitan area and San Miguelito, both in the capital, account for the majority of cases, with 2,753 infections. The reported deaths occurred in the western provinces of Chiriquí (4) and Bocas del Toro (2); the eastern province of Darién (2); and Panamá Este and Coclé, with one death each.

“The national dengue incidence rate during epidemiological week 25 of 2025 is 125.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Most cases have occurred in individuals aged 10 to 59 years,” the official report stated.

Panama is currently experiencing co-circulation of all four dengue serotypes, with DENV-3 and DENV-4 being the most prevalent. This, according to Minsa, “increases the likelihood of severe and fatal cases.”

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The Ministry emphasized that dengue is a serious and potentially deadly disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and noted that it has ramped up nationwide operations through vector control teams to reduce infection rates.

However, officials stressed that citizen participation remains critical, urging the public to eliminate mosquito breeding sites both inside and around their homes.

The Costa Rican government announced on Tuesday the extension of a humanitarian migration category and the granting of work permits to a group of migrants from various nationalities who were stranded in the country after being deported from the United States last February.

“A new extension of this humanitarian category has been published, allowing these individuals to maintain regular status in Costa Rica for six months. One of the new features is that they now have the right to work, which will help facilitate their integration into the country,” said Migration Director Omer Badilla.

In February, Costa Rica received two flights carrying 200 deported migrants from the United States, including 81 minors. They came from Nepal, China, Russia, India, Congo, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ghana, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The Costa Rican government said at the time that this was part of an agreement with the Trump administration for Costa Rica to serve as a transit point for migrants returning to their countries or a third country.

The migrants were taken to the Temporary Migrant Care Center (CATEM) in southern Costa Rica near the Panama border. Nearly half returned voluntarily to their countries, others sought asylum in Costa Rica, some left the center, and others remain voluntarily.

Currently, 25 migrants remain at CATEM voluntarily. According to authorities, the humanitarian migration status allows them free mobility and now the possibility to seek employment.

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The acceptance of these 200 migrants sparked controversy in Costa Rica, with several NGOs denouncing that authorities violated human rights by not allowing the migrants to move outside CATEM for two months until the humanitarian migration status was first established in April.