Costa Rica’s Killings Are Falling. Its President Still Blames the Judges
Politics
Key Facts
—The trend. Costa Rica averaged 2.5 killings a day in 2023 and averages 1.9 so far in 2026.
—The projection. The judicial police expect under 800 homicides this year, against a record above 900 in 2023.
—The baseline. The country recorded about 570 killings in 2020, so the fall is from a peak, not to safety.
—The charge. President Laura Fernández says one man was detained up to 388 times without a case ever being opened.
—The reply. The judiciary has said it will coordinate with the government and back its legal reforms.
—The rate. At 16.6 killings per 100,000 people, Costa Rica ranks second in Central America behind Honduras.
Costa Rica homicides are falling at the fastest rate in years. In that same period, the president has publicly accused her country’s judges of letting criminals walk free.
The judicial police are an arm of the courts rather than the government. They count an average of one point nine killings a day this year, down from two and a half in 2023.
On our own arithmetic that is a decline of roughly a quarter. The same agency projects the year ending below eight hundred murders, against a record above nine hundred three years ago.
What the Costa Rica homicides data actually show
Between January and April the country recorded two hundred and sixty-five killings. That is down from three hundred and eleven in the same months of 2025, a fall of close to fifteen percent, matching the president’s first-half security report.
The judicial police put three scenarios on the table in March. At the current pace the year closes near six hundred and ninety-three deaths, and at the worst of the three near seven hundred and sixty-six.
None of this makes Costa Rica safe. The country killed about five hundred and seventy people in 2020, and the rate of sixteen point six per hundred thousand is the second highest in Central America.
Two thirds of this year’s victims were aged between twelve and thirty-nine. The escalation took three years, and on our own arithmetic the retreat has so far recovered rather more than half of it.
The president against the judges
Laura Fernández took office in May. Within two months she had accused organised crime of seeping into the marrow of the judiciary and demanded that judges account for themselves publicly.
She gathered all fifty-seven deputies and representatives of the judicial branch to hear her case. According to Infobae, she told them one individual had been detained as many as three hundred and eighty-eight times without a criminal case ever being opened.
She said judges had released prisoners the state criminology institute considered dangerous. She also said searches requested by the drug police sometimes wait two months to be carried out, by which time the drugs are sold and the suspects gone.
Each of those is her assertion. None of the sources examined for this article shows the judiciary confirming, disputing, or being invited to answer them.
Why standoff is the wrong word
The judicial branch did not refuse anything. It told the meeting it was politically willing to coordinate with the government and to carry out the legal reforms the government has drafted.
An opposition deputy put the difficulty differently. José María Villalta of the left-wing Frente Amplio called the session productive but warned about the tone.
He said the executive’s permanent confrontation with the judiciary does not help joint work. Coordination requires trust, he added, and a three-hour meeting does not build it.
Villalta also pointed at a budget problem inside the executive itself, on the very question of carrying out searches. By his account the delay the president lays at the judiciary’s door has a funding component too.
In May the president herself said Costa Rica had failed to dismantle organised crime. She cited shared failures across the executive, the judiciary and the legislature, and her own branch was among them.
What is actually driving the violence
The US Treasury described Costa Rica in January as a key global transshipment point for cocaine. The container terminal at Moín, opened in 2019, has become a regional hub.
Sixty-one criminal groups are in conflict, by the government’s count. Gang leaders still run their organisations from inside prison, a fact the judicial police accept, and the government’s bills aim squarely at cutting those communications.
A researcher at the National University’s state-of-the-nation programme puts it in one line. Costa Rica has stopped being merely a bridge for cocaine and has become a market for it.
Are Costa Rica homicides rising or falling?
Falling, by every official series. The daily average has dropped from two and a half in 2023 to one point nine, though the level remains far above where the country sat at the start of the decade.
Has the judiciary refused to cooperate?
No. It has publicly committed to coordinating with the government and supporting its reform bills, which is why the conflict is better described as one of tone than of substance.
What should a foreign resident watch?
Whether the security bills pass without eroding judicial independence. Costa Rica’s institutions are the asset that sets it apart, and the argument now running is about who controls them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much have homicides fallen in Costa Rica compared to the 2023 peak?
Costa Rica averaged 2.5 killings per day in 2023, compared to 1.9 per day so far in 2026, a decline of roughly a quarter. The judicial police project the year will end below 800 homicides, against a record above 900 in 2023.
What is President Laura Fernández's main criticism of the Costa Rican judiciary?
President Fernández has publicly accused the country's judges of letting criminals walk free. She cited one case in which a man was detained up to 388 times without a criminal case ever being opened against him.
How does Costa Rica's homicide rate compare to other Central American countries?
Costa Rica ranks second in Central America for killings per 100,000 people, with a rate of 16.6, behind only Honduras. The decline is from a peak rather than to safety, as the country recorded about 570 killings in 2020 before numbers rose.
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