Politics

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Oscar Arias Says Trump Administration Canceled His Visa

BYE BYE

The 84-year-old’s visa to enter the country comes weeks after he called Donald Trump “a Roman emperor,” on social media.

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA – JANUARY 23: Former President of Costa Rica and Noble Prize Winner Oscar Arias speaks during a demonstration in support of Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president on January 23 in San José, Costa Rica.
Arnoldo Robert/Getty Images

Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias said Tuesday that his U.S. visa was revoked without explanation. The incident comes mere weeks after he criticized Donald Trump on social media, calling him “a Roman emperor.” The self-proclaimed pacifist, 84, won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for helping broker peace during the Central American conflicts in the 1980s. Arias also advanced a free trade agreement with the U.S. in his last term and established diplomatic ties with China in 2007. Arias, who served as president for two terms between 1986 and 1990 and 2006 and 2010, told a news conference in Costa Rica’s capital that he had “no idea” why his visa was cancelled. “I received an email from the U.S. government informing me that they have suspended the visa I have in my passport. The communication was very terse, it does not give reasons. One could have conjectures,” he said in San José. He added that it was the U.S. State Department and not Trump who probably made the decision.

Read it at Reuters