Costa Rica's Laura Fernandez vows crackdown on crime in inauguration day speech

Laura Fernández used her inauguration to cast her presidency as a showdown with crime, not a routine handoff of power. Sworn in at San Jose’s National Stadium, the 39-year-old right-wing politician promised sweeping changes to the judiciary and to security laws as she moved to center her government on a hard-line response to violence.

Her mandate is unusually strong. Fernández won Costa Rica’s February 1 presidential election outright in the first round with about 48% of the vote, and her party secured an absolute majority in the Legislative Assembly. That gives her a firmer base than many predecessors, while also sharpening the stakes for what she chooses to do with it. A tougher security agenda could move quickly. It could also test how far Costa Rica is willing to bend its legal and institutional traditions in the name of public safety.

The pressure for action is real. Costa Rica posted its bloodiest year on record in 2023, and 2024 closed with 880 homicides, according to reporting tied to the Organismo de Investigación Judicial. Those numbers have helped turn crime into the central political issue of the moment, especially in a country long associated more with tourism, environmental protection and democratic stability than with heavy-handed security campaigns.

Fernández entered office with another sign of continuity and concentration of power: Rodrigo Chaves, the outgoing president, is set to serve in her government as minister of the presidency and minister of finance. That arrangement ties the new administration closely to the political project that brought Fernández to power, while also raising questions about how much distance, if any, she will keep from Chaves’s style of rule.

The ceremony itself underscored Costa Rica’s regional importance. Delegations from 71 countries and 18 international organizations were expected in San Jose, including Spain’s King Felipe VI and leaders from across Latin America. AP and EFE described Fernández as Costa Rica’s 50th president and the country’s second woman head of state, after Laura Chinchilla.

For Costa Rica, the question now is not whether crime has become severe enough to force change. It is whether Fernández’s promised war on crime can reduce killings without weakening the institutions that have long set the country apart in Central America.