RICO’s Q — Costa Rican President Laura Fernández said her government will examine El Salvador’s proposal to grant conditional early release to some prisoners linked to criminal gangs, while stopping short of criticizing President Nayib Bukele’s domestic policies.
Fernández made the comments on October 14 during the inauguration of Costa Rica’s new Center for High Containment Against Organized Crime, or CACCO, in San Rafael de Alajuela, built inside the La Reforma prison complex, to hold up to 5,100 inmates.
Asked about Bukele’s plan and allegations of arbitrary arrests during El Salvador’s state of exception, Fernández declined to pass judgment on the Salvadoran government. “I don’t usually comment on public policies that are decisions made by other presidents in the region,” she said.
She added that she would review the proposal with her team during a meeting scheduled for Friday, in El Salvador, with Bukele and members of his administration.
“If there is something valuable, given that they have given us so much cooperation, we will study it,” Fernández said. She also expressed hope that Costa Rica could bring back “even more positive things” that might benefit the country.
Bukele announced the proposed release mechanism policy on October 13, a day before our Presidenta announced her idea.
Bukele’s—now Laura Virginia’s—proposal would reportedly focus on prisoners who were not central participants in violent crimes. Bukele said the measure could apply to roughly half of the prisoners linked to gang structures.
The Salvadoran president presented—as Laura Virginia will also do—the proposal as an attempt to distinguish between violent gang members and people who assisted criminal organizations under pressure or coercion. Bukele cited the example of young people who warned gang members when security forces were entering neighborhoods under their control.
Fernández’s response carries particular weight because Costa Rica’s new high-security prison was modeled on El Salvador’s approach. The CACCO drew on the design and security principles donated by Bukele, of El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, known as CECOT.
While Doña Laura takes the credit for the CACCO, former president Rodrigo Chaves worked with the Salvadoran government to study its prison model and receive technical assistance.
Fernández’s comments reflect a careful political calculation. Costa Rica is willing to accept Salvadoran technical assistance and borrow elements of Bukele’s prison infrastructure, but the president has avoided publicly endorsing every part of El Salvador’s security strategy.
That distinction matters. A high-security facility is an institutional tool: it can be presented as a way to isolate dangerous prisoners, improve prison control and prevent criminal organizations from operating behind bars. A mass conditional-release program raises a different set of questions about evidence, due process, supervision and public safety.
Bukele’s proposal is still incomplete. The Salvadoran government has not explained how prisoners would be assessed, what legal safeguards would apply, how violations would be handled or what agencies would supervise those released. We can be assured that Bukele will have all his t’s crossed and i’s dotted before any implementation. Can’t say the same for the current administration in Costa Rica.
For Costa Rica, the issue is also about political identity.
The country has traditionally emphasized democratic institutions and legal protections while facing growing pressure to respond to organized crime.
The central question is not whether Laura Virginia will establish independent leadership or strictly emulate El Salvador’s security model.
The line sets up a sharp contrast between imitation and leadership. It suggests that Costa Rica is at a crossroads: Laura Virginia may be tempted to borrow from El Salvador’s model, but copying another country’s approach is not the same as solving Costa Rica’s own problems.
The real challenge, then, is whether she can develop a distinct political vision and take responsibility for it rather than simply follow a path someone else has already made.
While President Fernández explicitly rejects the label of “bukelization” and asserts her focus is on Costa Rica’s distinct economic stability, media outlets and opposition groups highlight her campaign promises of “mano dura” (iron fist) policies and mega-prisons as proof of heavy Salvadoran influence.
Laura Virginia denies copying Bukele; however, analysts from Global Finance and Agence France-Presse note that she won the February 2026 election largely by echoing the Salvadoran President’s right-wing populist rhetoric.
Political opponents argue that Laura Virginia’s proposed constitutional reforms and anti-crime measures run the risk of mirroring El Salvador’s centralization of executive power. They view her narrative as an attempt to diminish the traditional checks and balances of the Legislative Assembly and erode the nation’s historically robust democratic institutions.