SAN JOSE – President Oscar Arias announced Wednesday that Costa Rica will re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba after a gap of nearly five decades, proclaiming an end to “the official silence.”

“The time has come to establish a direct and open dialogue of official and normal relations that permits us to address our differences and disagreements talking face to face, with respect,” Arias told reporters after the regular weekly Cabinet meeting.

The president said he thought long and hard before making the decision, which stemmed from his conviction that “times change and Costa Rica must change with them.”

Arias’ announcement coincided with a statement Wednesday by Salvadoran President-elect Mauricio Funes affirming that he plans to renew diplomatic links with Havana.

Costa Rica and El Salvador are currently the only Central American nations not to maintain formal relations with the communist-ruled island.

Arias has been a tough critic of the Cuban regime, but tensions between San Jose and Havana have significantly eased since the ailing Fidel Castro stepped aside in July 2006 in favor of younger brother Raul, who was installed a year ago as Cuba’s president.

The Costa Rican leader said that restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba would bring “coherence” to his country’s foreign policy.

“Only he who is willing to collaborate has the right to criticize,” Arias said. “I would not want to maintain the official silence that has prevailed between Cuba and Costa Rica for decades. No benefit for our peoples will be extracted from that silence.”

Friendly bilateral contacts have been on the rise for several months.

Cuban Consul Antonio Pardo recently delivered to Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno an invitation to next month’s summit in Havana of the Non-Aligned Movement. Last December, Costa Rica approved Cuba’s admission to the Rio Group, a regional security organization.

Arias has lately been urging Washington to be more flexible in its policy toward Cuba, especially in regard to the nearly 47-year-old U.S. economic embargo.

“The Cold War is over and I keep thinking that President (Barack) Obama sooner or later will have to approach having a dialogue with the Cuban regime,” Arias said Wednesday.

Obama, the Costa Rican said, “announced that he will close the prison at (the U.S. Navy base in) Guantanamo ... I have gone further, I have said that sooner or later Guantanamo should be returned to the Cuban people.” EFE