The President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, promised this Friday to help Panama get off the blacklists of tax havens, now that his country will preside over the summit of ministers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).Panama has been accused of being a tax haven, which has led to the country being placed on various lists, including one from the European Union.

“Our commitment is to support Panama on its route to being a player in the Premier League of the world economy […] and we have put ourselves at their disposal,” Chaves told journalists alongside his Panamanian counterpart, José Raúl Mulino, at the end of a visit to the country.

“Costa Rica will soon assume the presidency of the OECD, and we have expressed our interest in their support as president of that organization on the whole issue of excluding Panama from the lists of different colors where we are and have been,” said Mulino.

Costa Rica, which has been part of the OECD since 2021, will chair the bloc’s ministerial meeting in 2025 in Paris, the organization’s headquarters. “It is not fair and it is an insult to Panama to keep us on that list of low-connotation countries. We are immensely grateful for that support [promised by Chaves],” added the Panamanian president.

Mulino stated that once “Costa Rica is at the forefront” of the OECD, he will travel to Europe “visiting whoever needs to be visited” to remove Panama from “any discriminatory mechanism.” The country’s reputation hit rock bottom after the “Panama Papers” scandal, an investigation that revealed in 2016 how secret societies were created for personalities from around the world from a Panamanian law firm, some of which served to evade taxes or launder money.

However, successive Panamanian governments have rejected these accusations and have threatened to adopt sanctions against countries and organizations that keep Panama on such lists.

Due to the “Panama Papers,” high-ranking officials in several countries had to resign and others were convicted. After the scandal, Panama carried out legal reforms, including the criminalization of tax evasion, which was not previously a crime. These changes allowed the country to exit the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), based in Paris, in 2023.

Chaves, the first foreign president to visit Mulino since he took office on July 1, said that “Panama’s reputation (…) is beginning to spread in different international organizations,” because “contracts are fulfilled” and there are “clear rules” in the country.