President Laura Fernández has passed her first 100 days in office with the approval of nearly two-thirds of Costa Rica. She has also passed them with most Costa Ricans convinced that the man she replaced is still making the decisions. The Center for Research and Political Studies at the University of Costa Rica (CIEP), released its first opinion study of the Fernández administration today. Sixty-four percent of respondents rated her performance as good or very good, 25% called it bad or very bad, and 11% described it as average.
By recent standards that is a solid opening. It is not, however, where her predecessor stood at the same stage. Rodrigo Chaves registered 79% approval in August 2022, fifteen points above the figure Fernández holds now. Her number instead matches the 64% Chaves carried in May of this year, in the last CIEP measurement taken during his term.
The picture shifts when respondents were asked about the government as an institution rather than about the president personally. That evaluation came in at 59%, twelve points below the 71% the Chaves government recorded in its own first measurement, with negative opinions running fifteen points higher than they did for the previous administration at the equivalent point. Asked plainly whether they back the government, 69% said they do and 31% said they do not.
The finding that gives the report its shape concerns Chaves himself. A total of 64.4% of those interviewed said the former president holds a great deal of influence over the main decisions of the current government, and another 19.7% said he holds some influence. Combined, roughly 84% see the former president shaping the administration in some measure, against 12.9% who said his influence is small and 3% who said he has none at all.
CIEP describes the arrangement as dual presidentialism, a situation in which Fernández’s formal leadership coexists with authority the public continues to attribute to the man who preceded her. The report frames this as the distinguishing feature of the administration’s opening months.
That perception does not translate into a polarized electorate. Asked whether they consider themselves chavistas or antichavistas, three out of four respondents said neither. Thirteen percent identified as chavista and 12% as antichavista, leaving the great majority outside the political divide that has defined national argument for the past four years.
Confidence in national institutions barely moved. Ratings were broadly unchanged from the May 2026 measurement, with most institutions scoring slightly lower than before. The one exception was the Legislative Assembly, which rose from 4.9 to 5.5. Notably, the universities and the Judicial Investigation Agency held their standing despite sustained public criticism from the Executive Branch, suggesting that the government’s disputes with those institutions have not moved public opinion against them.
On individual aspects of her performance, Fernández drew more positive than negative marks on the direction she has given the Executive Branch at 55.2%, on her capacity to unite the country at 54.3%, and on her work with the Legislative Assembly at 51.5%. Her weakest showing came on the pursuit of agreements. The report also found that negative assessments of the country’s economic situation now outweigh positive ones.
The survey went further and tested what would cost the government its support. Four scenarios drew the strongest reaction: imposing taxes on basic food-basket goods, failing to comply with a Constitutional Chamber ruling, cutting the budget of the public universities, and a proven corruption case involving members of the government. Each of these is live. The university funding question is already before the Assembly, and the administration’s friction with the courts has been a defining feature of its first months.
CIEP conducted the study by random mobile telephone sample, interviewing 994 people aged 18 and over between August 25 and 28 and on September 1, across morning, afternoon and evening hours. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
What the numbers describe is a government with real public backing and an unresolved question at its center. Fernández holds the office and the approval that comes with it. Whether the country believes she is the one exercising it is a separate matter, and on that the answer is not yet in her favor.
