Q COSTA RICA — The president of Costa Rica, Laura Fernández, has argued that education can help prevent crime, using a striking comparison between her own life path and that of the drug trafficker known as “Diablo” — one of the country’s most wanted criminals.
The two, she said, are the same age; while Fernández grew up in a rural area and went on to become president, she asked, what led him toward organized crime? Her answer: education.
In a televised address on October 25, Fernández made the remarks while pushing back against claims that her government’s security policy is focused only on arresting and imprisoning offenders. She said investment in schools and efforts to keep young people in classrooms are also part of crime prevention. In her account, many people now involved in crime left school years ago without the opportunities needed to continue their studies.
“Costa Ricans, do not be misled by claims that my government is only interested in jailing criminals rather than preventing crime,” Fernández stated.
The president noted that many individuals currently involved in criminal activity dropped out of the education system decades ago—a time when, she argued, they lacked the necessary opportunities to continue their studies.
Read more: Costa Rica’s crime-prevention message meets a budget-cut test
Government cites school projects and student-return efforts
Fernández pointed to government figures showing that between 2022 and 2026, work was completed at 700 educational centers, reaching more than 209,000 students. The administration said 196 of those projects involved entirely new schools or colleges and that health-related orders at educational facilities fell by 20%.
She also cited social and academic indicators: the government reported a 29% drop in school exclusion compared with 2025 and said 6,181 students who had left school returned.
On international testing, Costa Rica’s score in science rose from 411 in 2022 to 424 in 2025, according to figures attributed in the article to the OECD. The article notes that the country remained below the OECD average, while changes in mathematics and reading were small and not statistically significant.
Fernández said infrastructure alone is not enough: students also need support to remain in school. She cited the Avancemos scholarship program, saying all primary-school students living in extreme poverty currently receive a scholarship. She also highlighted plans to create 10 additional scientific high schools during her administration, following the opening of five under President Rodrigo Chaves.
Fernández’s central argument is clear; measuring whether it delivers on crime prevention will take more than infrastructure counts and a compelling contrast.
The president concluded her remarks by defending the outcomes of the educational policies and reiterating that keeping young people in school is a key component of her crime-prevention strategy.
“We have done a great deal—so much. And do you know the best part? The future looks even more promising,” she stated.
The message ended with the rallying cry: “We did not inherit a position; we inherited a commitment to the people of Costa Rica. Because giving up has never been an option.”
Analysis: a powerful message, but not proof of cause
The comparison gives Fernández’s argument a personal, memorable frame: two people of the same age can follow sharply different paths, and access to education may help shape those choices. It also broadens the government’s public account of security beyond policing and incarceration, presenting classrooms and student retention as part of prevention.
But the comparison is illustrative, not evidence that educational access alone explains why an individual enters organized crime—or that school investment by itself will reduce crime.
The figures cited in the report describe construction, enrollment support, school exclusion, and test performance; they do not establish a direct link between those measures and changes in criminal activity.
That distinction matters: education can be framed as a long-term preventive policy, while immediate security measures address current threats.
The government’s claims on school projects and student outcomes also require context to assess their full impact. The reported totals indicate the scale of activity, but it does not provide independent evaluation of the projects’ quality, the durability of students’ return to school, or whether the reported changes can be attributed to specific policies.
Costa Rica’s crime-prevention message meets a budget-cut test
While President Laura Fernández says education can help keep young people from being drawn into crime, a proposed reduction of nearly ¢9 billion colones (US$19.8 million) to the Ministry of Public Education’s 2026 budget puts that claim under pressure.
Keeping children and young people in school, she says, can help steer them away from criminal networks, but that message is colliding with a fiscal proposal from her Minister of Finance and former president, Rodrigo Chaves.
The proposal submitted by Chaves is part of a wider adjustment to public spending after the government lowered its revenue forecast. The bill is still moving through the Legislative Assembly; the proposed reduction was not yet a final legislative decision. (Teletica; La Nación)
The proposed cuts touch areas central to that prevention argument. The largest reduction identified in the education ministry’s plan is in educational technology, including devices and robotics kits, connectivity, internal networks and digital infrastructure. Other cuts would be in infrastructure and equipment; the proposal also trims from equity programs, mainly student transportation. Funding for ten new education centers and school gardens would be shifted to 2027.
That creates a clear political tension. Fernández presents education as part of the government’s security strategy, while Chaves’s ministry has proposed reducing spending on programs and services that can support students’ access to school and learning.
The contradiction is not simply that one official praises education while another cuts its budget: both operate within the same administration, and the budget proposal gives a concrete measure against which the government’s stated priorities can be judged.