RICO’s Q — On the radio show “Nuestra Voz” at Radio Monumental, following her inauguration, President Laura Fernández claimed that homicides are under control.
Really, Laura?
She’s probably leaning on data up to March 23, 2026, which showed 158 homicides—58 fewer than the same period last year.
But the truth is, homicides have actually gone up.
Only five days since she took office, provinces like Puntarenas, Cartago, and Limón have reported multiple homicides, including the killing of a Fuerza Pública officer.
Since her inauguration on Friday, the homicide count is already two higher than it was on the same day last year.
If this pace keeps up, the total could easily surpass last year’s record of 873 homicides, making 2025 the third most violent year in Costa Rica’s history. For context, 2024 had 880 homicides, and 2023 holds the record with 907.
Earlier this year, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) projected around 730 homicides for 2026, based on crime trends and technical analysis.
Here’s something to think about:
No previous president—Óscar Arias, Miguel A. Rodríguez, Abel Pacheco, Laura Chinchilla, José María Figueres, Rafael A. Calderón, Luis Guillermo Solís, or Carlos Alvarado—has faced homicide numbers this high.
On average, in the last four years, more than two people are murdered daily in Costa Rica. It’s not, as Rodrigo Chaves put it, just “bad guys killing each other.”
Take this, for example:
- On May 7 at 2 p.m., on Paseo Colón, a hitman killed a young man and injured two innocent women, including a bus passenger.
- Yesterday (Wednesday), six people were killed: a double homicide in Limón’s Lomas del Toro (Matina) where two men on a motorcycle were shot; two men were shot dead in Sardinal, Carrillo, Guanacaste; confirmation that a police officer wounded in Batán, Limón, died; and a 19-year-old was gunned down at a bar in Paso Canoas.
- On Monday, a traffic accident between two drivers in Cartago ended with one of them dead.
No, Laura, it’s time to stop downplaying the violence and crime crisis.