Costa Rican President Fernández told reporters that agencies of the U.S. government have been conducting operations within Costa Rica's borders, framing the arrangement as a continuation of longstanding security agreements rather than anything newly proposed. Those comments came during a televised interview, prompted by a question about her position on the deployment of U.S. troops in the region.
A coordinated arrangement with the DEA and FBI — one Fernández described as operating under a defined set of procedures — took shape during the tenure of the administration that preceded the current one. Joint patrols operating in Costa Rican waters and a coordinated approach to narcoterrorism were among the points she raised.
No details emerged about the scale of those operations, the locations where they are conducted, or the number of U.S. personnel taking part. No additional information about their scope has been made available by the Presidency.
In making the point that Costa Rica maintains no military force, Fernández noted that a civilian police service handles the country's security needs. Outlining plans to advance legislation targeting criminal organisations, she characterised the nation as standing at the edge of a broader shift in how public safety is managed.
Those remarks extend beyond what she put forward in September, when she indicated that ground operations by U.S. forces could serve national security provided they addressed shared priorities, including efforts to counter drug trafficking. Her position at that point was that no such process had been initiated, and that any move in that direction would need to go through the legislature.
Disarmament of its own forces came for Costa Rica in 1948, and since then the framework governing joint activity with the United States has rested on two pillars: a maritime counternarcotics accord and a separate legislative authorisation process through which the Assembly grants approval each time American vessels, aircraft, or troops seek entry into the country.
That conversation took place against a backdrop of a week in which security policy had drawn the bulk of attention. A detention facility modelled after El Salvador's CECOT began operations in Alajuela under Fernández's direction, alongside a declaration that nine foreign criminal networks — six based in Mexico and three in Colombia — would be formally designated as terrorist organisations under Costa Rican law.
A visit to El Salvador placed Fernández alongside President Nayib Bukele for talks and a walkthrough of CECOT, with Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar part of the travelling delegation. Three Mexican nationals with alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel were transported by Costa Rican authorities to Juan Santamaría International Airport, where they were turned over to DEA agents pending extradition proceedings.
Three individuals were placed under arrest in April 2025 after law enforcement stopped their yacht off Quepos and found approximately 840 kilograms — close to 1,850 pounds — of a substance that investigators identified at the time as cocaine.
