Authors: Alvaro Murillo and Alexander Villegas
SAN JOSE, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Laura Fernandez will become Costa Rica’s next president, pushing forward the populist mandate set out by her predecessor, which included promises of constitutional reforms and a suspension of civil liberties to fight crime amid a surge in drug violence.
Fernandez, 39, works as a political adviser and civil servant in Costa Rica’s Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy, where current President Rodrigo Chavez appointed her minister in 2022.
Fernandez was a staunch supporter of Chavez, and she went on to serve as his chief of staff before launching her own presidential campaign.
Congressman Pilar Cisneros leads the government faction and is seen as a key figure in Chavez’s rise to power. He said Fernandez was hand-picked by about 10 people close to Chavez, including the president.
“There are very few people who know this state as well as she does — she knows the issues,” Cisneros said.
Born in Esparza, in the coastal Puntarenas province, and raised in the capital, San Jose, Fernandez was known for his dramatic speaking style and taste for dancing, which he often displayed at campaign rallies.
She is married with a young daughter and is a conservative Catholic with strong family values, which has helped her attract support from the country’s growing evangelical community.
She spoke of her admiration for Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, known for his tough stance on crime and gangs, and said she would impose a state of emergency in high-crime areas to restrict civil liberties. She also vowed to build a high-security prison modeled on El Salvador’s CECOT megaprison.
During the campaign, opponents accused Fernandez of being Chavez’s “puppet” and questioned her autonomy.
“She is the one who will govern – she will be president – but she would be foolish not to show that she has the support of Don Rodrigo. She is loyal to our political project,” Cisneros said.
After declaring victory, Fernandez, surrounded by supporters in San Jose, promised a new era of politics in Costa Rica.
“The changes will be profound and irreversible,” Fernandez said, declaring that the Central American country was entering a new political era.
Costa Rica’s second republic, which began after the 1948 civil war, “is a thing of the past,” she said. “The responsibility for establishing a third republic rests with us.”
Fernandez will become Costa Rica’s second female president, following Laura Chinchilla, who ruled from 2010 to 2014. Since leaving office, Chinchilla has held a number of positions at international organizations and universities, and has become an outspoken opponent of the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan governments.
She has also become one of the most outspoken critics of the current Costa Rican government and its political movement, saying it follows the “predictable playbook” of other authoritarian leaders in the region. She called Fernandez “rude and populist” and a “poor replica of the president.”
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Lincoln Feast.)
