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Security & Strategic Review - June 2025
COSTA RICA: Chaves’ security boasts ring hollow
In his third state of the nation speech to congress on 5 May, Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves was quick to claim progress in tackling insecurity. However, his boasts belie the record homicides registered in recent years or the fact that insecurity is the chief public concern. This has led his right-of-centre government to seek a more hardline approach which would mark a significant change from the policies unveiled in 2023 that focused on social prevention and increasing police presence [SSR-23-06]. Indeed, Chaves has done little to conceal his admiration for his authoritarian counterpart in El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, whose state of exception and mass incarceration policy has slashed homicide rates while stoking human rights concerns. However, such an approach in Costa Rica could well face pushback from the legislature and judiciary which, unlike Bukele in El Salvador, Chaves does not control.
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