Costa Ricans have elected conservative populist Laura Fernández as their next president, according to preliminary results, making her the latest right-leaning leader to win office in Latin America.

With results from 96.8% of polling places counted, Fernández of the Sovereign People’s Party won 48.3% of the vote, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal reported.

Her closest challenger, economist Álvaro Ramos of the National Liberation Party, trailed with 33.4%, the Associated Press reported. 

Ramos conceded the race on election night, with Fernández, 39, to begin her four-year term in May.

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A former government minister, Fernández is the chosen successor of outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves, who is constitutionally prohibited from seeking re-election.

She campaigned on continuing Chaves’ populist agenda, which reshaped Costa Rican politics by arguing against traditional parties and promising tougher action on crime.

Fernández served as minister of national planning and later as minister of the presidency, giving her a central role in Chaves’ administration.

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Crime had dominated the campaign in Costa Rica amid sharp rises in homicides, gang activity and drug trafficking by cartels.

The murder rate had increased by 50% over the last six years, according to reports.

Fernández pledged a hard-line security strategy, including increased cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and tougher measures against organized crime.

She has also floated controversial proposals inspired by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

This included construction of a special prison for gang leaders, the Associated Press reported.

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“My hand won’t shake when it comes to making the decisions we need to restore peace in Costa Rican homes,” Fernández said during the campaign.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Fernández in a statement Monday.

“Under her leadership, we are confident Costa Rica will continue to advance shared priorities to include combating narco-trafficking, ending illegal immigration to the United States, promoting cybersecurity and secure telecommunications, and strengthening economic ties,” Rubio said.

“I hope that we can immediately lower the flags of whichever political party and start working only in favor of the Costa Rican flag,” Fernández said after the result. 

“I believe the Costa Rican people expect nothing less of us,” she added.

Hundreds of drones and missiles struck Kyiv and Kharkiv overnight, leaving thousands of homes without heat.

Russian forces have attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and its second-largest city, Kharkiv, as a supposed weeklong truce amid winter conditions ended, according to Ukrainian officials.

‍Russia ‍attacked with 450 drones and more than 60 ⁠missiles overnight, ​Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii ‍Sybiha said on Tuesday, accusing ‍Moscow of having waited for temperatures to drop before renewing its targeting of energy infrastructure amid brutal subzero conditions.

United States President Donald Trump said last week that Russia had agreed to pause attacks on Ukraine’s cities amid the freezing weather. Moscow has concentrated fire on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure every winter since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

At least two people were wounded in the capital and two others in Kharkiv amid the barrage on Tuesday, officials said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali ⁠Klitschko ​said 1,170 ‍residential buildings ⁠in the capital were left ​without ‌heating as temperatures dropped to -17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Russia targeted Kyiv “in the bitter cold with another massive strike” overnight, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram, urging residents to remain in shelters.

The attacks affected five city districts, causing damage to three apartment blocks and a building housing a kindergarten, he said.

Footage on social media showed the upper floors of an apartment building in the capital engulfed in flames.

According to unconfirmed media reports, two thermal power plants in the capital were hit.

‘Maximum destruction’

Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in recent weeks have knocked out heating and power to hundreds of residential blocks in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Tuesday’s attacks aimed to “cause maximum destruction … and leave the city without heat during severe frost”.

As a result of the attacks, officials had to cut heating to 820 buildings to drain coolant in order to prevent the wider network from freezing, he said.

Public broadcaster Suspilne said the attacks had knocked out power in the towns of Izyum and Balakliya in Kharkiv region, and struck two apartment buildings in the ⁠northern city of Sumy.

Ivan Fedorov, military administrator in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, said on Telegram that a 38-year-old woman had been killed in a drone attack in a suburb.

So-called truce fails

Trump had announced on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to his personal request to halt attacks on “Kyiv and various towns” amid the bitterly cold winter weather.

Moscow said it had agreed to the request, but said the truce would last only until Sunday, and did not link the measure to the freezing temperatures.

Kyiv, which had welcomed the move, said the truce was supposed to continue for a week from January 30, but reported that Moscow had kept up its attacks anyway.

The attacks came as Russian and Ukrainian officials prepare to meet for a new round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

“Neither anticipated diplomatic efforts ​in ‌Abu Dhabi this week nor [Putin’s] promises to ‌the United States ‌kept him ⁠from continuing terror against ordinary people in the ‌harshest winter,” Sybiha wrote on social media.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was prioritising more attacks over peace talks.

“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than turning to diplomacy,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Zelenskyy had suggested on Monday that recent “de-escalation” with Russia was helping build trust in the negotiations.