(Corrects paragraph 5 to say Chaves will be finance minister, not justice minister)
By Alvaro Murillo
SAN JOSE, May 8 (Reuters) – Costa Rica’s Laura Fernandez is set to be inaugurated president on Friday, with the right-wing politician vowing to wage a “war without quarter” on crime in the small Central American nation, long recognized as a bastion of peace and prosperity.
Fernandez, 39, has promised sweeping reforms to the judiciary and existing security laws. Last week, she introduced Gerald Campos as her new security minister, vowing “a war without quarter, a heavy-handed war against organized crime.”
Costa Rica, which abolished its military in 1948, has long been famed as one of the region’s most peaceful nations even as its neighbors endured violent dictatorships, military interventions and civil wars.
However, its murder rates broke records during the four-year term of Fernandez’ predecessor Rodrigo Chaves, which the U.S. attributed to Costa Rica becoming a key transit point for South American cocaine shipments destined for the U.S. and Europe.
Fernandez served as presidency minister under Chaves, who will continue to play an important role in the nation’s politics as leader of her Sovereign People party and as Fernandez’ own presidency and finance minister.
Chaves, who could not stand for re-election under Costa Rican law, had during his term repeatedly criticized the judiciary, prompting critics to accuse him of authoritarian tendencies reminiscent of nearby El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.
Costa Rica is building a maximum security prison modeled after El Salvador’s anti-terrorism CECOT center, where hundreds of Venezuelans were held without trial after being deported from the U.S. early last year.
Human rights groups have said detainees – many of whom were sentenced in mass trials – have been subjected to torture, and deprived of food, medical care and legal services.
Fernandez, who will serve until 2030, won the February election with 49% of the vote and 31 of 57 seats in the country’s single-chamber legislature, providing the ruling party with an absolute majority.
Fernandez’ inauguration is scheduled for noon (1800 GMT) at the capital’s National Stadium – a 2007 gift from China, though Chaves distanced himself from the Asian powerhouse during his term as he positioned himself closer to Washington.
Spain’s King Felipe VI, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau are set to attend, as well as the presidents of nearby Panama, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Bukele, however, is set to miss the event, as will Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega.
Despite record murder rates, Chaves’ presidency was marked by a strong post-pandemic economic recovery, low inflation and a reduction in poverty, though job creation remained limited.
Fernandez takes over the nation of just over 5 million people at a time of geopolitical uncertainty marked by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that has sent oil prices rocketing worldwide, and potentially greater fiscal pressures.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo in San Jose; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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