Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez has suggested that United States military operations in the country’s territory could bring national security benefits. In an interview published on Friday, Fernandez emphasised to the news service that such measures would require approval from the national legislature. She also added there were no plans in the works for US forces to operate in the country.
Fernandez succeeded her mentor, former President Rodrigo Chaves, after a February election in which concerns about security and rising violence in the Central American country played a prominent role. Though she ran on a tough-on-crime platform, Fernandez has said that she is not currently considering a state of emergency to address the problem. Such emergency declarations typically suspend key constitutional rights, in favour of giving police or the military added powers to crack down on violence.
That model has been popularised under the right-wing president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. But critics point out that the states of emergency are meant to be short-term measures, not permanent ones. El Salvador has been under an emergency declaration since 2022, with the government extending it dozens of times.
Crime has become a top voter concern in Costa Rica. The Central American country’s homicide rate has doubled in the last decade, reaching 17.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. That figure still places the country’s average well below many others in the region, but the change, partly attributed to increased drug trafficking activity, has startled many residents.
Fernandez’s remarks also reflect growing pressure from the US to reduce crime across the Western Hemisphere. Since returning to office for a second term, US President Donald Trump has pushed to expand his country’s influence across Latin America, notably through military engagements. Earlier this year, he launched the “Shield of the Americas”, also known as the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC), to bring together right-wing leaders across the region to address drug trafficking.
Trump used the inaugural meeting to encourage Latin American governments to embrace a military-driven approach to crime, despite concerns about human rights. He has also carried out and threatened military operations in sovereign countries, on the premise of combatting crime. Some countries, such as Mexico, have baulked at the prospect of US military forces carrying out operations on their territory.
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