The right-wing Laura Fernández is the new president of Costa Rica, after sweeping Sunday’s elections with her promise of a tough line against drug trafficking, in this country that for years was considered one of the safest on the continent.
Fernández, a 39-year-old political scientist, obtained 48.7% of the votes, almost nine points more than she needed to win in the first round, according to the Supreme Election Tribunal (TSE) count of 85% of the count.
Her proposals on security – which capitalized on the main demand of Costa Ricans – and to reform the powers of the State are seen by opponents as part of a plan to consolidate absolute power, in the style of the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, the first president to congratulate her.
In a video call with her mentor, President Rodrigo Chaves, Fernández thanked him for trusting her “to be the elected president of Costa Rica today.”
As soon as the first results were known, which already showed a wide advantage over the social democrat Álvaro Ramos (33.18% of the votes), thousands of members of the Pueblo Soberano Party gathered in emblematic places in the country to celebrate.
Caravans of vehicles with turquoise flags and street parties were quickly organized in San José and other cities.
His victory strengthens the right in Latin America, after recent victories in Chile, Bolivia and Honduras, and where this year there will be presidential elections in Brazil and Colombia, currently governed by the left.
In addition, Fernández will be the second woman to govern Costa Rica, with 5.2 million inhabitants and one of the most stable countries in the region, after the mandate of Laura Chinchilla, who also won in the first round in 2010.
Costa Rica also elected 57 deputies this Sunday.
Fernández, who will take office on May 8, proposes copying part of the war against Bukele’s gangs and reforming the powers of the State, which she and Chaves accuse of sponsoring impunity.
For this reason, it aspires to achieve a large legislative majority that will allow it to modify the Constitution.
During the government of Chaves, a polarizing figure, the murder rate reached a record of 17 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Seven out of every ten homicides are linked to drug trafficking, which turned this country, considered for decades one of the safest on the continent, into a logistics and drug export center, according to authorities.
Fernández offers to finish the construction of a prison inspired by Bukele’s megaprison for gang members, increase sentences and states of exception in conflictive marginal areas.
«I like your prison project. The violence exploded because they are touching the ringleaders, like getting the rats out of the sewers,” justified Jéssica Salgado, a 27-year-old office worker.
“The economy is doing well and Laura is going to hit the drug traffickers hard,” said Sileny Fernández, a 39-year-old human resources advisor.
But opponents claim that the constitutional reforms actually seek to pave the way for Chaves’ return to power when his four-year term ends. Currently the president must wait two terms to run again.
Fernández is called a “populist” and a “bad copy” of Chaves for adopting his confrontational rhetoric.
“I will always take care of democratic stability,” the candidate guaranteed this Sunday.
“The first thing dictators want is to reform the Constitution to stay in power,” former president Óscar Arias, 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner, launched this Sunday.
“There are no dictatorships here,” said the president after voting, who unleashed criticism for making mocking gestures against voters who shouted “Chaves out!”
Although poverty fell from 18% in 2024 to 15.2% in 2025, Costa Rica is among the six most unequal Latin American countries on the Gini index and is the second most expensive after Uruguay.
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