Costa Rica consolidates shift to the right in presidential elections

She reached 48.5% of the votes with 88.4% of the ballots counted, well above the 40% needed to win in the first round. In her victory speech, the elected official stated that she was “a convinced democrat” and “defender of freedom, life and family”.

“It is up to us to build the third republic. The mandate given to me by the sovereign people is clear: the change will be profound and irreversible,” declared Fernández from a platform in front of a hotel in San José, where hundreds of his supporters were gathered.

Among his proposals is the reconstruction of the Judiciary and other state institutions. Leaders of his party have acknowledged that one of their goals is also to amend the Constitution to allow for consecutive re-election.

Laura Fernández’s Sovereign People’s Party won 30 of the 57 seats in Congress, according to preliminary results, but will need consensus to implement significant reforms, which require a two-thirds majority in the legislature.

The runner-up in the election was Álvaro Ramos, candidate of the center-right National Liberation Party (PLN), who achieved 33.3%. According to data from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), abstention reached 30.3%.

Who is Laura Fernández, next president of Costa Rica

The conservative Laura Fernandez is a political scientist and specialist in public policies and democratic governance. She became the second woman to win the presidency in the history of Costa Rica, following in the footsteps of Laura Chinchilla, of the Social Democratic-oriented National Liberation Party (PLN), who governed from 2010 to 2014.

Fernández was appointed Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy (2022-2025) and later Minister of the Presidency (2024-2025), where she shaped the government’s agenda amid profound reforms.

His political agenda focuses on new investments in security and reforms in the Judiciary. One of its proposals advocates strengthening citizen security, with greater territorial control and professionalization of the police.

Violence and the fight against drug trafficking were central themes of the campaigns in these elections. Fernández promised to expand the use of cargo scanners at ports, airports and land borders, as well as promote regular operations against clandestine landing strips and illegal vessel unloading points used for drug trafficking.

“My hand will not tremble when making the decisions we need to make to restore peace in Costa Rica’s homes, which are full of good people. In my government plan, we proposed the revocation of constitutional guarantees”, declared Fernández on January 26, during the debate organized by Radio Colombia and the Universidad Latina.

The ruling party candidate stated that the revocation of constitutional guarantees is provided for in the Political Constitution and that this “would allow, through a special and extraordinary procedure, the removal of identified criminals, their neighborhoods of residence and their movements”.