Costa Rica wants US forces to help with national security

Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez says hosting US ground operations could make her country more secure, although no such coordination is currently planned. Any deployment would also require approval from Costa Rica’s legislature.

Fernandez said closer cooperation could pursue a common objective against transnational crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. Her comments came after US President Donald Trump invited Costa Rica to join the Shield of the Americas, an anti-cartel coalition. Fernandez indicated that she wanted cooperation between the countries to go further.

Costa Rica has seen a rise in drug-related crime and violence in recent years. The homicide rate reached a record 17.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, twice the rate recorded a decade earlier.

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It would obviously be very good for national security if it were about pursuing a common objective against transnational crime, transnational drug trafficking, transnational terrorism.

Fernandez has also clashed with the country’s courts over her crime policies. She accused the judiciary of corruption and links to drug cartels after courts blocked security measures. “I’ve been very critical of how slow the courts are, very critical in specific cases where judges release convicted criminals long before their sentences are complete, and I’ve also been very critical of administrative failures and potential corruption in the judiciary,” she said.

Judicial officials denied the accusations. They also condemned planned government budget cuts for the courts in 2026 and 2027, arguing that the reductions would make crime worse rather than reduce it.

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I've been very critical of how slow the courts are, very critical in specific cases where judges release convicted criminals long before their sentences are complete, and I've also been very critical of administrative failures and potential corruption in the judiciary.