Violence and drug trafficking are highlighted in Costa Rica’s elections

In 2025, the small territory was rocked by a series of scandals related to organized crime, including the dismantling of the so-called South Caribbean Cartel, described by authorities as Costa Rica’s first transnational criminal organization, and the arrest of former Security Minister Celso Gamboa Sánchez on US accusations that he led a regional drug trafficking network. These events increased pressure on local politics months before the election scheduled for next Sunday (1st).

Violence rates also soared last year. In 2025 alone, authorities seized more than 44 tons of cocaine, far exceeding the approximately 27 tons in 2024, and homicide rates rose especially in important drug trafficking areas, such as Limón, the country’s main port.

Once considered the safest country in the region, Costa Rica now has the third highest homicide rate in Central America, at 16.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, which has become a major challenge for the next president.

Meet the candidates

Laura Fernandez

In total, 19 candidates are running for president this Sunday. Costa Rica’s electoral polls point to the conservative candidate Laura Fernandezformer chief of staff to President Rodrigo Chávez, as the favorite in the race.

The government representative, a member of the People’s Sovereign Party (PPSO), adopted a hard-line stance in relation to security and organized crime during the campaign.

Fernández is 39 years old and has a degree in Political Science from the University of Costa Rica (UCR). The political rise was consolidated with the election of Rodrigo Chaves to the presidency in 2022. She 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.

Furthermore, if he wins the elections, he is considering carrying out reforms in the judicial system and institutions, seeking greater autonomy and efficiency in public services.

Regarding drug trafficking, she 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.

To this end, it is studying greater international cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Interpol and Europol, while intensifying the fight against chemical precursors used in the production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.

Another proposal became known for its similarity with El Salvador’s policy to combat gangs. Fernández proposed implementing states of exception, in which civil liberties would be suspended to identify drug traffickers and murderers in areas of high violence.

Alvaro Ramos

Another candidate who highlighted the fight against drug trafficking on his agenda is centrist Álvaro Ramos, from the National Liberation Party.

With a broad CV in public and private careers, Fernández’s competitor is a professor, economist and computer scientist.

In his campaign, he denounces that Costa Rica has become an attractive country for drug traffickers, not only as a bridge for transporting drugs to the USA and Europe, but also as a consumer market.

Its proposals include carrying out large national operations focused on the most dangerous neighborhoods known as drug trafficking havens, as well as in tourist areas with the highest crime rates.

Ramos also proposes hiring 6,000 new permanent police officers and creating a biometric ballistics laboratory to track firearms and their owners. To reduce the flow of drugs, he also plans to buy and install advanced scanners and electronic seals, or “smart containers,” to inspect cargo without opening the containers and to trigger alerts when they are opened or tampered with by organized crime.

Claudia Doubles

Representative of the left-wing opposition and former first lady of Costa Rica, Claudia Dobles, from the Citizen Agenda Coalition, opposes any limitation of individual guarantees in the country, going against the proposal to impose a state of exception like that of El Salvador.

She defends preventive initiatives and greater police presence in communities with the highest security risk, with the help of intelligence. “Opportunities and a focus on education are necessary so that our young people do not fall into the hands of organized crime,” said Dobles during the campaign.

Dobles is an architect by training and was first lady between 2018 and 2022 during the presidency of Carlos Alvarado. To the EFE agency, she highlighted that her government plan is based on a diagnosis of the country’s current situation, marked by the deterioration of citizen security, organized crime and the decline of international indicators that have historically distinguished Costa Rica in the Latin American region.

As part of her political agenda, she promised to reactivate the National Presidential Security Council, as well as operational coordination between the Public Force, the Judicial Investigation Agency, the Anti-Drug Police and municipal police, if she is elected on Sunday.

For the candidate, the security strategy cannot depend solely on police action, but needs to be accompanied by a comprehensive strategy that includes the modernization of judicial systems, updating the legal framework and prevention strategies through investments in education and safe public spaces.

Costa Ricans will go to the polls to vote for political continuity or change

The latest survey by the Center for Research and Political Studies (CIEP) at the University of Costa Rica, released this Wednesday (28), places government candidate Laura Fernández with 44% support.

His main competitors, Álvaro Ramos and Claudia Dobles, appear distant with around 9%, while the number of undecided voters reaches 26%.

A total of 3.7 million Costa Ricans are called to vote on February 1st to decide whether to maintain the continuity of Rodrigo Chaves’ government with candidate Fernández or whether to opt for one of the 19 remaining options to lead the country from 2026 to 2030.