For generations, Costa Rica has built an uncommon international identity: a country without a permanent army that has relied on democracy, diplomacy, and civil institutions to protect its stability.

That identity remains an essential part of the country. What has changed is the world surrounding it.

President Laura Fernández opened an important conversation this week by noting that potential U.S. ground operations could benefit national security if directed against common threats such as transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, or terrorism.

The statement naturally drew attention. However, an important clarification must be made: no such operation is currently underway. Fernández explained that the matter had been discussed months ago with U.S. authorities and that any eventual entry of foreign forces would have to follow procedures established by Costa Rica.

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Beyond the immediate impact of her words, a much larger question remains: How can a small country, without an army and with a long tradition of peace, confront criminal organizations that no longer respect borders?

A Different Threat

Costa Rica’s geographical position has historically been one of its greatest advantages.

Being situated between two oceans and serving as a bridge between North and South America has fostered trade, tourism, and the country’s connection with the world.

Yet that same location also proves attractive to criminal organizations that move drugs, money, and other illicit goods across multiple countries.

Drug trafficking stopped being merely a matter of shipments passing through national territory long ago. Criminal organizations can compete for local markets, transport routes, and connections with international networks. When those structures begin establishing themselves within a country, the consequences inevitably reach local communities.

Although homicides decreased during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period of the previous year, violence remains a significant concern. Organized crime and drug trafficking continue to command a major share of the authorities’ attention.

The Judicial Investigation Directorate (OIJ) has also carried out operations against structures with international connections, demonstrating that Costa Rica is facing a problem that is national in scope, yet difficult to combat solely within its own borders.

Cooperation That Already Exists

Costa Rica and the United States are not starting from scratch.

Both countries have maintained significant security cooperation for years, particularly in the fight against drug trafficking, maritime surveillance, information exchange, training, and coordination among authorities.

This is a collaboration that Costa Rica must recognize and value.

For a relatively small country, confronting organizations equipped with enormous financial resources, technology, and international networks is no simple task. Having the cooperation of the United States provides access to capabilities that can complement and strengthen the work of Costa Rican authorities.

Intelligence, maritime and aerial surveillance, port security, tracking financial operations, and judicial cooperation can be just as crucial as seizing a drug shipment.

They also make it possible to go after those who finance and direct organizations, rather than just targeting those at the lowest levels of those structures.

The recent extradition to the United States of Costa Ricans wanted for drug trafficking offenses is another example of how cooperation between the two countries has entered a new phase.

Much More Than Military Presence

The discussion should not be reduced solely to the possibility that U.S. forces might one day operate on Costa Rican soil.

A vast field exists for deepening cooperation without altering the Costa Rican model.

Costa Rica can benefit from better maritime and aerial surveillance systems, technology for its ports, more advanced scanners, financial intelligence, forensic tools, cybersecurity, training, and faster information exchange among agencies.

All of this can directly strengthen the OIJ, Coast Guard, Public Force, Prosecutor’s Office, and other institutions responsible for fighting crime.

Perhaps one of the best forms of international cooperation is precisely this: helping Costa Rica acquire increasingly better tools to protect itself.

This does not preclude the possibility that under special circumstances, other forms of collaboration could be considered.

The Costa Rican Constitution already establishes the mechanisms to do so. Article 121 grants the Legislative Assembly jurisdiction over the entry of foreign troops into national territory.

If any concrete proposal were to be presented, it would then be up to the country to examine its scope, objectives, and conditions before making a decision.

Being a Country of Peace Also Requires Security

Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, and that decision became one of the country’s most recognized symbols.

Yet being a nation without an army has never meant being a nation without security responsibilities.

Costa Rica must protect its borders, ports, communities, and institutions.

The challenge lies in doing so against threats very different from those that existed when the country made that historic decision.

A close relationship with the United States does not have to contradict Costa Rica’s peaceful tradition. On the contrary, well-defined cooperation can help preserve it.

If the technology, intelligence, training, and experience of an allied country enable Costa Rican civil institutions to be more effective, that cooperation strengthens the national model rather than replacing it.

Security Is Also Built Within the Country

However, no ally can do for Costa Rica what must be done inside Costa Rica.

International cooperation is a tool, not a complete solution.

Ports need robust controls. Money laundering must be made increasingly difficult. Police and investigators need resources and technology. The Prosecutor’s Office and the courts must have the capacity to handle cases of growing complexity.

There is also another, less visible battle.

Criminal organizations need people to grow. Wherever a young person finds few opportunities for study, employment, or development, the easy money of organized crime can prove more attractive.

Investing in education, prevention, opportunities, and safe communities does not usually produce the spectacular images of a major seizure, but it is also part of the fight against drug trafficking.

A secure country needs strong institutions, but it also needs strong communities.

An Alliance Against an International Problem

Costa Rica and the United States share much more than a security relationship.

Economic, diplomatic, commercial, educational, and human ties have been built over decades. The United States has been an important partner for Costa Rica, and its collaboration gains even greater value as the problems facing the region grow more complex.

Criminal organizations already operate internationally. Their money crosses borders. Their routes cross borders. Their communications cross borders. Their markets do too.

It would be difficult to expect authorities to combat them without doing the same.

Therefore, Costa Rica does not necessarily have to choose between independence and cooperation. It can maintain control of its institutions while simultaneously taking advantage of the intelligence, technology, training, and experience of allies like the United States.

If security conditions continue to change, there will likely be conversations that a generation ago seemed unnecessary.

Having them does not mean abandoning the Costa Rican identity. It means recognizing that threats have changed and that the country must also be prepared to change the way it faces them.

Costa Rica has protected a tradition of peace for decades that deserves to be preserved.

The challenge now is to ensure that this peace can also be protected in a much more complex world.

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