Costa Rica’s president-elect, right-wing politician Laura Fernández, was sworn in on Wednesday as chief of staff to organize the transfer of power, an unprecedented move in the Central American country, President Rodrigo Chaves announced. Fernández, a 39-year-old political scientist who won Sunday’s election in the first round with 48% of the vote, will lead the Ministry of the Presidency, a key post she already held in Chaves’s administration before launching her campaign.
“We are committed to working together to ensure a transition without bumps, without seams, without gaps — an effective transition,” Chaves said at a press conference alongside Fernández, to whom he will hand over power on May 8. In a decision that signals a possible reshuffle, Chaves announced the appointment and left open the possibility that he himself could take over the Ministry of the Presidency in Fernández’s government.
“She has been my subordinate and I don’t see anything strange about being her subordinate (…). I’m not allergic to the idea of serving her as minister of the presidency,” the president said, adding that discussions are still ongoing. The head of that ministry also serves as the link between the government and the Legislative Assembly, where Fernández will hold an absolute majority of 31 out of 57 lawmakers.
Chaves, whom the opposition says will be the power behind the throne, has clashed with the state’s other branches — a confrontation that could continue if he ends up leading that ministry. “I’m extremely excited to fully join the transition process as minister, to help drive projects forward, and to work side by side with the cabinet leadership,” the president-elect said.
Fernández has promised a hard-line security policy, inspired by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, to confront drug-trafficking violence that the government says is the fault of the judiciary. Fernández says she is Chaves’s political “heir,” while the opposition accuses him of pushing Costa Rica down an authoritarian path.
