Q COSTA RICA — Accustomed to answering questions about security, the economy, or government decisions, this time Laura Fernández spoke from a much more intimate place.
Without political speeches and in a relaxed tone, the President of Costa Rica opened the doors to her personal story during the “Alma de Mujer” (Soul of a Woman) podcast on Canal Gente OPA, where she shared episodes that, she confessed, shaped her character long before she arrived at Casa Presidencial.
The conversation began with a reflection on how she deals with public exposure and the constant criticism inherent in politics. Fernández asserted that the key has been self-knowledge.
“I think I know Laura very well. I know my strengths, my weaknesses, and I know very well what things affect me emotionally and what things don’t,” she stated.
Beyond her public image, the president confessed that she finds true balance in her spirituality. Although she asserted that she is not a particularly religious person in the traditional sense, she explained that faith occupies a central place in her life.
“To this day, my God has not failed me once in any trial I have faced,” she expressed, recalling that she usually entrusts every important decision to God and the Virgin of Los Ángeles, from state meetings to the most complex issues related to the country’s security.
But if there is a refuge that, she said, restores her peace of mind after intense days, it is her home.
The president recounted that, regardless of the accumulated fatigue after tours or meetings, everything changes when she crosses the threshold of her home.
“What I hear is my daughter Fernanda running around yelling ‘Mom!’ along with my two dogs, racing to see who gets there first to greet me. I forget everything,” she said with a smile.
That everyday moment, she explained, is what allows her to simply be Laura again and leave behind, for a moment, the weight of leading the country.
One of the most emotional moments came when the conversation turned to an episode she had rarely shared publicly: her first marriage.
Fernández revealed that she married very young, around 23 years old, and that the relationship ended in divorce after her then-husband fell in love with another woman.
“Everything bad that can happen to you, happened to me,” she recalled.
The president confessed that that episode represented one of the hardest blows of her life.
“Devastated. That’s how I was. It was incredibly difficult to overcome the infidelity and learn to live alone,” she recounted.
After that experience, she said she completely lost faith in love and became convinced that she would never get married again.
“I said: I’m never getting involved in this marriage thing again,” she recalled.
However, she affirmed that it was precisely during that period that she decided to focus all her energy on studying and growing professionally.
“I worked sixteen or seventeen hours a day,” she commented, convinced that work was a tool for rebuilding herself emotionally.
Over time, Jeffrey appeared, who is now her husband and, in her own words, the man who showed her what it truly means to share life with a partner.
“When I married Jeffrey, I understood what it meant to have a husband. To have a true partner, someone who loves you, respects you, and rejoices in your growth,” she stated.
The president recounted that it was he who encouraged her to send her resume when then-President-elect Rodrigo Chaves opened the process to form his cabinet, even though she was 14 weeks pregnant.
Later, when the possibility of becoming a presidential candidate arose, it was Jeffrey again who encouraged her.
“Go for it. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I’ll support you; we’ll make it work somehow,” she recalled her husband telling her.
Fernández also spoke about the internal conflict she experienced as a Catholic woman when considering remarriage after a divorce. She recounted that she even went to confession with a priest to seek guidance.
As she recalled, it was that priest who asked her a question that completely changed her perspective: whether she truly believed God wanted her to spend the rest of her life alone because of a past mistake.
“I left that confession renewed,” she affirmed.
In addition to discussing her love life, the president recalled another of the most difficult moments in her life: her mother’s battle with breast cancer while she was still a university student.
She explained that she had to take on new family responsibilities while continuing her studies, even giving up academic opportunities abroad to remain close to her family.
That experience, she confessed, also affected her health, and she gained nearly 44 pounds due to stress and hormonal changes caused by the anxiety.
Despite all these difficulties, Fernández maintained that she never lost sight of the goal she had set for herself as a child.
“I come from a small town where the school had only one teacher, where there were no paved roads, and where I grew up among chickens and pigs. I became president of Costa Rica through education and hard work,” she stated.
Before concluding the conversation, she sent a message specifically to women going through difficult times.
“Education and perseverance are the way. You can achieve your dreams through your own efforts,” she said, convinced that setbacks, however painful, don’t have to define the rest of your life.
More than a political interview, Alma de Mujer revealed a side of Laura Fernández far removed from presidential protocol: a daughter who stood by her mother through cancer, a woman who suffered infidelity, a believer who found solace in faith, a mother who unwinds by playing with her daughter, and a wife who, in her own words, discovered a second chance at love when she least expected it.