February 5th, 2026
#23 | Security without Stability
This week’s Central American Drop examines shifting power, persistent violence, and deepening social anxieties across the region. From electoral change in Costa Rica to political fractures within Nicaragua’s ruling elite, the package traces how authority is being contested, consolidated, and eroded—often simultaneously.
In Costa Rica, we look at the rise of Laura Fernández, the country’s new president, and the political conditions that made her victory possible. Alongside this profile, we analyze how drug trafficking and state absence have reconfigured violence in a nation long portrayed as an exception to Central America’s security crises, challenging its democratic and institutional self-image.
The focus then turns to Nicaragua, where the conviction of Bayardo Arce, the last historically significant Sandinista ally of Daniel Ortega, marks a decisive rupture within the regime. His fall for money laundering reveals not only internal power struggles but also how anti-corruption rhetoric is weaponized to discipline former comrades.
Finally, in El Salvador, we assess the social mood of 2025, where economic precarity and unemployment emerged as the population’s primary concerns, eclipsing even security. Together, these stories map a region where political legitimacy is increasingly measured not just by control and force, but by the capacity—or failure—to deliver economic stability and credible governance.
