Álvaro Ramos Chaves

Rule Changes

Runner-up with 33.4%; PLN holds 17 legislative seats

Costa Rica abolished its army in 1949, building Latin America's most stable democracy on neutrality and social investment. On February 1, 2026, voters elected Laura Fernández Delgado of the Pueblo Soberano Party (PPSO) president with 48.3%—exceeding the 40% threshold to win outright and avoid a runoff—while granting her party 31 of 57 legislative seats, enabling simple-majority reforms amid drug cartel violence that tripled homicides since 2019[1][2][3].

Updated Feb 4