Costa Rica’s Democracy Faces a New Test, But It Will Endure
The election of Laura Fernández extends Costa Rica’s populist experiment. Its democracy will weather it, for now, two experts write.
Earlier this month, Laura Fernández won Costa Rica’s presidency in one of the most decisive electoral victories in the country’s history. Fernández, the handpicked successor of President Rodrigo Chaves, secured 48% of the national vote—a landslide by Costa Rican standards—and her party, Partido Pueblo Soberano (PPSO), gained 31 of the legislature’s 57 seats, more than any political organization has held since the early 1980s. Although short of a supermajority, when Fernández takes office on May 8, she will become the first Costa Rican president to enjoy a partisan...
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