The presidential elections held in Costa Rica on February 1, 2026, resulted in a clear message that once again confirmed Latin America's shift to the right. Conservative right-wing leader Laura Fernández won the presidential election in the first round, securing more than 48% of the vote. Her main challenger, leftist Álvaro Ramos of the traditional National Liberation Party (PLN), followed with roughly one-third of the vote.
Fernández’s victory was widely understood as a vote for continuation and consolidation of the political direction set under Rodrigo Chaves, who served as president for two terms. It was a referendum on whether Costa Rica should press forward with a tougher executive line, as Chaves had begun, or retreat into the usual cycle of institutional paralysis that the country endured for decades. Citizens clearly chose to move forward.
Practical issues such as rising crime rates, inefficient public institutions, and budget deficits that strain the financial system have been the driving forces behind the consolidation to the right in Costa Rica. Fernández benefited from this mood precisely because she represented continuity with authority.
When Chaves first came to power, he disrupted the system to reform many underperforming government policies by challenging the vested interests of elites. Now, Fernández is elected to restore control, strengthen execution, and turn disruption into political consolidation.
Costa Rica is a great expat destination, and with Fernández's leadership, I hope for even more. In this article, I’ll explain Costa Rica’s right-wing reform trajectory from Chaves to Fernández and outline what to expect next.
From disruption to consolidation: Fernández steps in after Chaves to protect and push reforms, taking on bureaucracy, powerful interest groups, and activist watchdogs to clear the way for faster growth
When Chaves took office in 2022, he adopted an openly hostile approach toward Costa Rica's established political class and positioned himself to confront bureaucracies, unions, and courts. He broke political taboos and challenged the institutional arrangements that gave old elite groups the power to control the system.
Fernández inherits that posture, but her role is different. Over two terms, Chaves destabilized the system to initiate reform; Fernández is now expected to consolidate the achievements of Chaves’ reform agenda.
To advance the reform process, she appears ready to adopt a confrontational executive style, and the election results suggest she is on the right track. However, her mission isn’t easy; the establishment appears prepared to stop her. Although Costa Rica is among the most democratic regimes in the region, bureaucratic rent-seeking, professional cartels, and institutional actors operating beyond democratic control are the principal obstacles to rapid economic growth. This is why Fernández is skeptical of courts and oversight bodies that act as political agitators rather than neutral referees.
Fernández is a political scientist who served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy (2022-2025). She understands how to turn conflict into institutional change. I believe she can push the limits of Costa Rica’s political system to create the space needed to improve state capacity.
Alongside her anti-establishment stance, Fernández’s security policy is another defining pillar of her campaign. Although Costa Rica has been among the safest countries in Latin America since the 1950s, organized crime is on the rise. The majority of Costa Ricans have no intention of listening to progressive theories on how to stop violence through social reforms or negotiating with criminals. They demand fast and concrete solutions to reestablish state authority in neighbourhoods where gangs have taken control.
Since Nayib Bukele demonstrated that restoring security is possible even under the worst conditions and that negotiating with gangs quickly erodes state authority, much of Latin America has no patience for any socialist rhetorical explanation that legitimizes organized crime and violence. It is not surprising that Fernández has openly aligned herself with Bukele. In her campaign and public statements, Fernández made clear that Costa Rica could no longer afford a passive approach to security.
She has promised to declare a state of emergency in high-crime areas, expand high-security prisons, and strengthen executive tools to combat organized crime. These measures are a shift away from Costa Rica’s traditionally restrained, trust-based approach to internal security. This recalibration of the security policy is good news for both residents and the country's international reputation.
A confrontational executive approach to reform, combined with an active security agenda, necessitates constitutional reform to resolve ongoing conflicts between the Chaves–Fernández political line and bureaucratic elites, such as the comptroller’s office and the courts.
It aims to reduce vetoes against the government and improve executive capacity. In practice, this means narrowing the scope of judicial and administrative obstruction and clarifying who has the authority to act. For the first time since 2006, Fernández holds a majority in Costa Rica’s parliament, though not a 38-seat supermajority in the 57-seat chamber. We will have to wait to see how Fernández’s plans will unfold. However, clear electoral victories of Chaves and Fernández suggest that a comprehensive change in the constitution seems inevitable. Fernández calls this change the “Third Republic,” in reference to the Second Republic created in 1948 when Costa Rica abolished its standing army.
Fernández’s economic policy agenda emphasizes fiscal discipline, private-sector-led growth, and security as the foundation of economic stability. Backed by a legislative majority, Costa Rica now has the opportunity to pursue an irreversible transformation.
At the core of her economic program is fiscal austerity through efficiency gains, rather than tax expansion. Fernández has promised to cut bureaucracy, streamline public administration, and strengthen public finances by reducing waste. She is determined to use executive decrees to circumvent what she sees as excessive bureaucratic intervention. She has repeatedly declared that business freedom and enterprise are multipliers of national prosperity, and has presented regulatory friction and institutional bottlenecks as the real obstacles to economic growth.
A second pillar of her economic program is to break cartelized professional associations that impose minimum fees and restrictive entry rules under the guise of regulation. Fernández has no intention of protecting insiders, raising costs, or allowing them to function as legalized monopolies. Reducing rent-seeking structures will help her cut off the power of vested interest groups.
Finally, Fernández supports monetizing state assets to stabilize public finances and relieve long-term fiscal pressure. She sees public assets that serve political symbolism but drain public resources as liabilities.
In sum, Fernández promises to build a stronger market economy supported by a more efficient government and a bureaucracy largely freed from rent-seeking and parasitic groups.
Costa Rica is realigning: voters want reforms for more prosperity and safety, rejecting socialist-style policies as Latin America shifts right. The region is opening fast, creating new opportunities and making it more attractive for expats
Costa Rica has one of the freest market economies and certainly one of the most developed democracies in the region. However, the political consensus created in 1948 appears to have reached its natural limits. Costa Ricans are now backing leaders who promise to restructure the political system and the bureaucracy to deliver greater prosperity and security. What we are witnessing is not a radical shift, but a realignment of the system to face new challenges and enable further growth.
Prosperity and security are only possible by dismantling socialist economic policies and moving away from progressive ideologies that have long dominated the region. Over the past decade, Latin America has been undergoing a right-wing transformation as voters throughout the region have made clear that they have had enough of socialism and its failed, destructive policies. Countries long defined by statist models, such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Argentina, have begun turning toward freedom and prosperity through deep political and economic transformation.
I am delighted to see these positive developments unfolding so quickly across the region. Long-term opportunities are emerging throughout Latin America, making it one of the most attractive destinations for expats. To choose the best country for your Plan-B, download our special report on ‘Plan-B Residencies & Instant Citizenships’.