SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica’s Congress fell short Monday of the supermajority required to strip President Rodrigo Chaves of immunity in order to prosecute him on corruption charges.
Chaves' opposition needed a 38-vote supermajority, but only managed 34 votes in favor of lifting the president's immunity. Twenty-one lawmakers voted against the effort and two more were absent. It was the first time such a vote had occurred about a sitting president in Costa Rica's history.
Prosecutors allege that Chaves pressured a video producer who had been awarded a contract by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to give a portion of that money to a former campaign adviser.
Chaves has denied any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.
The country’s Supreme Court and a panel of three lawmakers had already allowed the case to proceed to Monday’s vote by the unicameral Legislative Assembly.
That outcome was never assured. Some opposition lawmakers had already said prior to the vote that they would not support lifting the president’s immunity. Combined with members of Chaves’ Social Democratic Progress Party, those supporting his prosecution may fall short of the necessary votes.
Chaves' presidency ends next May. His Social Democratic Progress Party's presidential candidate for the next election, Laura Fernández, has already said she will ask him to be part of her Cabinet, giving him another four years of immunity from prosecution.
FILE - Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves speaks to supporters after addressing a legislative committee considering a request from the Supreme Court to lift his immunity so he can stand trial on corruption charges in San Jose, Costa Rica, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz, File)
MALE, Maldives (AP) — Finnish divers on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two of the four remaining Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, an official said.
The bodies were located on Monday, when searches resumed after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a perilous mission to try to reach them.
Five Italian divers went missing on Thursday, with one of the bodies recovered earlier. The plan is to recover the remaining two bodies on Wednesday.
The announcement that two bodies were recovered on Tuesday was made by presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef.
Maldives government spokesman Ahmed Shaam had earlier said that the three Finnish divers would retrieve the bodies, which were lying at a depth of around 60 meters (200 feet). The legal depth for recreational diving in the Maldives is 30 meters (nearly 100 feet).
The government of the Indian Ocean island nation on Monday said that the bodies were spotted in the innermost part of the cave by the three Finnish diving experts, supported by the Maldives police and the military.
“As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave, but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” Shaam said.
He said that the four bodies were found “pretty much together."
The Divers’ Alert Network Europe, which deployed the three Finnish divers, said on its website that they are technical and cave divers with international experience in search and recovery missions, including operations in “deep overhead environments, confined spaces and high-risk scenarios.”
The team used advanced technical systems, including closed-circuit rebreathers, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, allowing for “significantly longer dives,” the organization said.
The body of a fifth Italian — a diving instructor — was found earlier outside the cave on the day they were reported missing. The five were exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s Foreign Ministry.
Initial teams had already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared.
In this handout photo release by Maldives President Media Division, a Finnish diver gets ready to attempt to recover the bodies of two of the four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll earlier this month, at Alimathaa Island, in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Maldives President Media Division via AP)
In this handout photo release by Maldives President Media Division, a Finnish diver, left, gets ready to attempt to recover the bodies of two of the four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll earlier this month, at Alimathaa Island, in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Maldives President Media Division via AP)
This image released by the Maldives President's Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President's Media Division via AP)
