SAN JOSE — The United States revoked the visas of several board executives at La Nación, one of Costa Rica's leading media outlets. The newspaper's board said the U.S. gave no reason for the revocations.

In a front-page statement on Sunday, the board of directors said affected members first learned they had been stripped of their U.S. visas from reports in pro-government media. "We fully recognize that the United States, like any sovereign state, has the power to determine the terms of entry into its territory," the board said. "However, it is unprecedented in Costa Rica's recent history for visas to be revoked from members of the board of a general-interest and independent newspaper."

The revocations prompted criticism from political opposition and press freedom organizations in Costa Rica, which demanded that Costa Rican and U.S. authorities provide an explanation. La Nación published allegations of sexual harassment during the 2022 presidential campaign of Rodrigo Chaves, the outgoing President of Costa Rica and a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mauricio Herrera, a journalist and former communications minister, linked the action to the Costa Rican government. "There is no doubt that the cancellation of visas for its board of directors is in response to a request from the Costa Rican government. The sanction seeks to intimidate those who dare to dissent and exercise their freedom of expression," Herrera said.

The board members are not the first Costa Ricans to lose U.S. travel privileges. Last year, the United States revoked the visa of Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican President Óscar Arias, as well as that of former legislative president Rodrigo Arias. Rodrigo Arias said he believed the U.S. decision in his case was made at the request of Chaves.

In recent months, Francisco Nicolás and Cynthia Córdoba also had their U.S. visas canceled.

Chaves has cooperated with the Trump administration, agreeing to accept up to 100 third-country deportees a month and to extradite suspected drug traffickers to the U.S. He will leave office on Friday and hand over power to his successor, President-elect Laura Fernández.