Costa Rica is facing a growing deterioration in judicial independence, while the government is pursuing tough-on-crime policies that voters have not endorsed.
Costa Rica is experiencing growing political polarization between the defense of its democratic tradition and a rupture-oriented political project driven by the government.
The 2026 elections are reshaping politics in Costa Rica, with the presidency and Congress concentrated in a single party and an electorate mobilized around security and institutional change.
The victory of Laura Fernández opens a crossroads: to reform the state in order to usher in a Third Republic, or, in the attempt, to erode the checks and balances that have sustained its democracy.
Costa Rica is facing elections marked by uncertainty and the rise of political personalism, putting one of Latin America’s most stable democracies to the test amid an unprecedented scenario of volatility.
