HAVANA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that Cuba rejects Costa Rica's unilateral decision to downgrade bilateral relations to the consular level without any argument or justification.

"This is an unfriendly act, clearly a response to pressure from the U.S. government, as part of its renewed offensive to try to bring other countries into its failed policy against Cuba. But they will be thwarted by the strength of the historic and deep-rooted relations between our two peoples," Diaz-Canel said Wednesday on X.

According to a statement from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Costa Rican government notified Havana via a diplomatic note on Tuesday of its unilateral decision to close its embassy in Cuba and limit relations with Cuba to the consular level.

Invoking so-called "reciprocity," Costa Rica requested Cuba to withdraw the diplomatic personnel from its embassy in San Jose and maintain only the consular and administrative staff.

The diplomatic note stated that Costa Rica will maintain only consular-level relations with Cuba starting April 1. ■