Vanessa Buschschlüter (BBC News) reports that conservative candidate Laura Fernández (Sovereign People’s Party) has won the presidential election in Costa Rica. She will be the second woman to govern Costa Rica after the center-right president Laura Chinchilla (National Liberation Party), who served from 2010 to 2014. Buschschlüter underlines that, on the campaign trail, Fernández said that she would emulate some of the policies of the El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. She is also expected to maintain the close ties her predecessor, Rodrigo Chaves, built with the U.S. [No surprise here!]
The candidate for the governing conservative Sovereign People’s Party, Laura Fernández, has won the presidential election in Costa Rica. With more than 88% of the votes counted, Fernández had over 48% of the votes, far ahead of the second-placed centrist candidate, Álvaro Ramos, who conceded defeat.
Fernández ran on a promise to deepen the tough-on-crime approach of the outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves, who had handpicked her as his successor.
Voters had said they were concerned about a surge in drug-related violence in the Central American country. [. . .]
The size of her vote share – which exceeded the 40% needed to win outright in the first round – means that there is no need for a run-off.
Fernández will be sworn in on 8 May.
In her victory speech, the 39-year-old said she would plough ahead with the policies introduced by Chaves, whose chief of staff she was.
Under Costa Rica’s constitution, presidents are not allowed to serve two consecutive terms and Chaves was therefore barred from standing for re-election. Fernández has hinted she may appoint him to a post in her cabinet.
Costa Rica, one of Central America’s safest countries and a stable democracy, has seen a rise in crime over the past years as transnational criminal gangs have expanded in the region.
On the campaign trail, Fernández said she would emulate some of the policies of the El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. Bukele has sky-high approval ratings with Salvadoreans saying they are grateful for his iron-fist approach to crime, which has seen the murder rate plummet. [. . .]
She will become the second woman to govern the Central American nation after Laura Chinchilla, who was elected president in 2010. [. . .]
For full article, see https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdre7me407yo
Vanessa Buschschlüter (BBC News) reports that conservative candidate Laura Fernández (Sovereign People’s Party) has won the presidential election in Costa Rica. She will be the second woman to govern Costa Rica after the center-right president Laura Chinchilla (National Liberation Party), who served from 2010 to 2014. Buschschlüter underlines that, on the campaign trail, Fernández said
