The ruling also ordered to suspend any award act to define a supplier of equipment or software to activate the 5G infrastructure in Costa Rica
A Costa Rican court has issued a provisional precautionary measure that suspended the execution of a government regulation which had excluded Chinese vendor Huawei as a 5G technology provider in the country, according to local press reports.
The suspension will remain in force “until this authority has greater evidence to definitively resolve the request for a precautionary measure,” the ruling indicates.
The measure was requested by the Internal Workers’ Front (FIT), of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE).
In August 2023, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had approved a decree with the main aim of regulating 5G mobile network deployments and banned firms from countries that have not agreed to an international cybercrime convention. The ban applies to tech companies from China, South Korea, Russia and Brazil, among others.
Chaves had issued the decree soon after U.S. Army Gen. Laura Richardson visited Costa Rica, where she questioned the growing Chinese investment in Latin American infrastructure development—including 5G networks.
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, have already effectively banned Huawei from their 5G networks or imposed restrictions.
Costa Rican government officials had previously raised concerns about potential cybersecurity threats posed by Chinese vendors in the development of 5G networks in the country, according to local press reports.
The science, technology, and telecommunications minister of Costa Rica stated that Chinese vendors represent a security threat to the emerging digital network, while another senior ministry official referred to the Chinese government as “totalitarian.”
In response, the Chinese embassy in the country criticized these statements, saying that they undermine economic relations between the two nations.
“These comments gravely affect the confidence and expectations of Chinese companies to undertake economic-trade activities in Costa Rica and they erode the good energy to develop bilateral relations,” the embassy wrote in a statement.
The statement went on to say China deemed the comments “irresponsible and unfounded.”
