- Laura Fernandez of Costa Rica
By SCM REPORTER
A TOUGH-TALKING right-winger has stormed to victory in Costa Rica, promising a “deep and irreversible” blitz on the drug gangs turning the paradise nation into a narco-battleground.
Laura Fernández, 39, the handpicked successor of populist leader Rodrigo Chaves, crushed her rivals on Sunday to become the country’s second female president.
The political firebrand secured a massive 48% of the vote, smashing the 40% threshold needed to avoid a messy run-off and bagging a dominant majority in Congress.
Taking to the stage in San José to the roars of thousands of supporters, a defiant Fernández declared that the “progress of our people” starts now.
”Change will be deep and irreversible,” she told the cheering crowds. “I will fight tirelessly for the security of every family in this country.”
Her victory marks a dramatic shift for the “Switzerland of Central America,” which has long been a haven of peace but is now reeling from a surge in cocaine-linked violence.
Narco-Nightmare
Once known for its “Pura Vida” (Pure Life) motto, Costa Rica is currently in the grip of a terrifying crime wave.
Three hundred and fourth (340) criminal gangs are now estimated to be operating in the country—up from just 35 a decade ago.
Drug transit: The nation has become a key “logistical hub” for South American cocaine destined for the UK, Europe, and the US.
Rising bloodbath: Homicide rates have hit record highs as rival cartels engage in brutal turf wars.
Fernández, a former Minister of the Presidency, has modeled her campaign on the “iron fist” tactics of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.
She has promised “tougher policing” and a total overhaul of the judicial system to lock up “narco-terrorists” and reclaim the streets.
Background: The Rise of the ‘Iron Lady’
The 2026 election was dominated by a single issue: fear.
Voters have grown weary of traditional centrist parties, viewing them as soft on the international cartels that use Costa Rica’s ports to ship tons of drugs.
Outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves began a confrontational “reorientation” of the country’s politics, but it is Fernández—a political scientist by trade—who has been handed the mandate to finish the job.
By securing a congressional majority, she now has the power to push through emergency security laws that her predecessors could only dream of.
