Costa Rica Election: Right-Leaning Fernández Wins Presidency

Laura Fernández, a right-wing populist, has won Costa Rica’s presidential election in a landslide, campaigning on a promise to address rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Her victory signals a rightward shift in Latin America, following similar outcomes in Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, and Honduras.

Fernández Claims Victory

Fernández’s nearest rival, center-right economist Álvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party exceeding the 40% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. With 94% of polling stations counted, Fernández captured 48.3% of the vote, compared with Ramos’s 33.4%, according to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

Celebrations erupted among members of Fernández’s Sovereign People’s party across the country, with supporters waving Costa Rican flags and chanting “Viva Rodrigo Chaves,” in reference to Fernández’s mentor and outgoing president.

A Legacy Continued

Appearing via video link at her party’s election night gathering in San Jose, Fernández, 39, thanked Chaves for giving her “the confidence to be president-elect of Costa Rica” and stated his legacy was in good hands. She vowed to “fight tirelessly” to ensure Costa Rica “continues on the path of economic growth, freedom, and above all, the progress of our people.”

Rising Crime and a Shift in Policy

Costa Rica, a nation of 5.2 million people known for its stability and democracy, has recently become a key logistics hub in the global drug trade. Drug trafficking by Mexican and Colombian cartels has fueled turf wars, causing the murder rate to jump 50% in the past six years, reaching 17 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Fernández has cited the iron-fisted approach of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has locked up thousands of suspected gang members without charge, as inspiration for tackling crime. Bukele was the first foreign leader to congratulate her.

Chaves, who served as planning minister and chief of staff under Fernández, expressed confidence that under her leadership “there will be neither dictatorship, nor communism.” He previously presided over a rise in violence, attributing it to a lenient judiciary.

Concerns Over Democratic Tradition

Some Costa Ricans, like Jessica Salgado, 27, voted for Fernández as a continuity candidate, believing the government was on the right track despite the increased violence. “The violence exploded because they [the government] are going after the ringleaders, it’s like dragging rats out of the sewer,” Salgado told AFP.

However, Fernández’s detractors fear she will attempt to change the constitution to allow Chaves to return as president after her four-year mandate ends, as he is currently barred from seeking re-election for eight years. Former President Óscar Arias, a Nobel peace prize laureate, warned that the “survival of democracy” was at stake, alluding to Chaves’s potential desire to remain in power.

Fernández has stated her commitment to upholding Costa Rica’s democratic traditions. She has also vowed to complete construction of a maximum-security prison modeled on Bukele’s Terrorism Confinement Center, stiffen prison sentences, and impose a state of emergency in areas most affected by crime.

The drug trade has infiltrated the high-density informal settlements of cities like San José, leading to increasingly frequent shootouts between rival drug gangs.