WASHINGTON—Costa Rica inaugurated its fiftieth president today, at a moment of unusual political continuity and unusual pressure for the country. Laura Fernández Delgado won the presidency in a landslide in February, and her newly formed Sovereign People’s Party secured a simple majority in Congress, marking the first time since 1990 that one party has won both the presidency and a legislative majority in Costa Rica.
That mandate comes with high expectations. Fernández campaigned on continuity with outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves and on a tougher approach to crime, including the completion of a maximum-security prison in the first year of her administration. Her cabinet choices underscore that message. In all, twenty-two officials from the outgoing government will remain in the new government, though some in different roles. Chaves himself is not going far. He moves from the presidency to the dual cabinet roles of minister of the presidency—the position Fernández held under him—and minister of finance, which Chaves led before becoming president. At the same time, some internal shifts point to new priorities of the next government. Manuel Tovar’s move from minister of foreign trade to minister of foreign affairs is especially telling: Costa Rica’s external agenda is likely to be increasingly organized around security, trade, investment, and strategic alignment.
This political configuration matters because it helps explain where Costa Rica stands today. The country has long stood apart from many of its neighbors for its democratic tradition, lack of an army, and reputation for robust institutions. It has a dynamic tourism sector and a highly advanced medical-device industry, which help drive its economy. But this exceptionalism is now being tested by the same forces reshaping the rest of the region: insecurity, organized crime, migration pressures, and public frustration with institutions seen as too slow to deliver.
Across Latin America, voters have punished incumbents, rejected traditional parties, and rewarded candidates who promise disruption over ideology. Costa Rica appears, at least on the surface, to be an exception. The security crisis deepened under the outgoing administration: 2023, 2024, and 2025 were the most violent years on record, and roughly seventy percent of homicides have been linked to drug trafficking and organized crime. Yet the candidate most closely associated with continuity won decisively.
That is the paradox at the heart of Costa Rica’s political moment. Insecurity clearly mattered; it was the top concern for voters. But Fernández’s victory suggests that many Costa Ricans appear to have interpreted their country’s problems as the result of an old political system, weak enforcement tools, and institutions that are too slow to respond to a faster-moving threat environment. The result was a mandate for the incoming government to continue in the direction of the previous one.
Security, or the lack thereof, is increasingly becoming the fulcrum around which domestic politics, foreign policy, and foreign direct investment turn. Fernández’s mandate is first and foremost domestic, but the consequences of her mandate do not stop at Costa Rica’s borders. A government elected on continuity, executive capacity, and a tougher posture on crime will look abroad for partners that can help it deliver.
The United States has long been Costa Rica’s most important external partner, but Costa Rica’s foreign policy has not been reducible to pro-US alignment. San José’s international identity has rested on being democratic but nonmilitarized, Western-oriented but neutral, and commercially open but diplomatically independent. Costa Rica is now moving from broad compatibility with Washington to more explicit alignment on security, migration, digital infrastructure, and supply chains. This is neither good nor bad.
In this next chapter of Costa Rica–US ties, security is without a doubt the linchpin. That aligns with the Trump administration’s “America First” thinking and its 2025 National Security Strategy. Going forward, the Fernández government’s relationship with the Trump administration could accelerate cooperation on counternarcotics, port security, investment, nearshoring, cybersecurity, and countering China’s influence in the region. And San José’s relationship with Washington is critical for the country’s continued economic growth. Without safer streets, ports, customs systems, and digital infrastructure, Costa Rica could see foreign direct investment decrease. The same qualities that have attracted investors—stability, connectivity, human capital, and institutional reliability—have also made Costa Rica attractive to criminal networks seeking logistics routes, financial channels, and access to global markets.