Q COSTA RICA — Attorney General Carlo Díaz will remain at the helm of the Fiscalía (Public Prosecutor’s Office) for another four years. All 21 magistrates present at Monday’s plenary session voted to keep Díaz in office.
His new term will run until October 2030, extending his leadership of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which he has headed since October 2022.
The vote provides Díaz with a clear institutional mandate. It also places the prosecutor at the center of a broader struggle over the limits of political power in Costa Rica, where investigations involving senior officials have sharpened tensions between the executive branch and the country’s judicial institutions.
Díaz has drawn criticism from the administrations of President Laura Fernández and her predecessor, Rodrigo Chaves, particularly after prosecutors opened cases involving alleged campaign-finance violations and the possible misuse of public funds. Chaves, who later became a government minister, publicly attacked Díaz and at one point led supporters in a march demanding his resignation.
The reelection therefore carries significance beyond the personnel decision itself. By retaining Díaz unanimously, the Supreme Court signaled that the Public Prosecutor’s Office should be allowed to pursue politically sensitive cases without direct executive approval.
That does not settle the conflict between the prosecutor and the government, but it does make the court’s position difficult to portray as narrowly divided or procedurally fragile.
During the session, Díaz used his presentation before the magistrates to defend the independence of the institution. He said the Public Prosecutor’s Office must remain a pillar of the rule of law and warned against political efforts that could weaken the separation of powers. He also reaffirmed his commitment to investigating organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking while respecting the rights of defendants and victims.
During his appearance, he presented a report on his first term and answered questions about criminal prosecutions, cooperation with international agencies and the backlog of cases. Several magistrates cited his work against organized crime and his defense of prosecutorial autonomy when explaining their votes.
Over the next four years, Díaz will have to manage pressure from the executive branch while pursuing cases that may affect powerful political actors. He will also face demands for measurable results against organized crime, which has become one of Costa Rica’s most urgent security concerns, alongside expectations that prosecutors handle sensitive investigations with greater transparency and procedural discipline.
For the Chaves-Fernández government, the reelection is a setback, as its objective was to replace a prosecutor it considered confrontational. For the opposition and judicial-sector defenders, it is evidence that the country’s institutional checks remain capable of resisting political pressure. The sharper question is whether that institutional confidence can survive sustained conflict once new investigations reach the courts.
Díaz’s second term begins with unusually strong backing from the magistrates but little guarantee of political calm.
His reelection gives him security of tenure until 2030. It also gives the executive branch and the public a clear benchmark: whether the prosecutor can turn that mandate into effective, impartial enforcement without allowing the office to become another front in Costa Rica’s increasingly polarized politics.
Lawyer with a 28-year judicial career
Carlo Díaz has a judicial career spanning more than 28 years, four of which he has spent at the helm of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Díaz joined the Judiciary in 1998 and has since held various positions, including assistant prosecutor, staff prosecutor, and deputy prosecutor. He also headed regional prosecutor’s offices in Limón, Pavas, Desamparados, Heredia, Alajuela, and Cartago, and served as deputy prosecutor for Indigenous Affairs, the Office for the Execution of Sentences, and the Prosecutor’s Office Management Unit.
He holds a law degree from the University of Costa Rica and a master’s degree in Law with an emphasis on Criminal Law, in addition to studies in Criminology. On a personal level, he is a father, a grandfather, and an avid cyclist.
DEA supported the reelection of Carlo Díaz
Díaz revealed that officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) expressed their support for him to remain at the helm of the Public Prosecutor’s Office—and to continue their collaborative work—ahead of today’s vote.
Díaz said that the head of the DEA in Costa Rica, whose identity is not being disclosed for security reasons, told him directly that he hoped he would be re-elected, citing the trust they have built and the various projects they are working on side by side.
Chaves on Carlo Díaz’s reelection: “It doesn’t surprise me”
Crhoy.com reports that former President and currently the Minister of the Presidency and Finance, Rodrigo Chaves, reacted to the reelection of Carlo Díaz. Ahead of a meeting with the President of Congress, Yara Jiménez, Chaves told the Trivisión that the reelection did not surprise him.
“I am not the least bit surprised (by the reelection); he is an individual who faces serious questions and clearly lacks the capacity, the character—everything required—to be an effective Prosecutor General,” Chaves stated.
Chaves has consistently voiced strong criticism of Díaz, who has investigated alleged corruption cases both during Chaves’s administration and under the current administration of Chaves—Fernández.