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.

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE ASFURA WINS HONDURAS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

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.

LATIN AMERICA FRACTURES OVER TRUMP’S MADURO CAPTURE AS REGIONAL ALLIES SHIFT RIGHT

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.

MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION

"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.

President Donald Trump on Thursday declared a national emergency via an executive order over Cuba, accusing the communist regime of aligning with hostile foreign powers and terrorist groups while moving to punish countries that supply the island nation with oil.

Thursday's executive order states that the policies and actions of the Cuban government constitute "an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

To address that threat, Trump ordered the creation of a tariff mechanism that allows the U.S. to impose additional duties on imports from foreign countries that "directly or indirectly sell or otherwise provide any oil to Cuba," according to the order.

The White House said the move marks a significant escalation in U.S. pressure on the Cuban government, aimed at protecting American national security and foreign policy interests.

MADURO'S CAPTURE IS 'BEGINNING OF THE END' FOR CUBA'S REGIME, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CHAIR SAYS

In the order, Trump said Cuba aligns itself with and provides support for "numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States," naming Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.

The administration said Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility, which the order states attempts to steal sensitive U.S. national security information. The order also says Cuba continues to deepen intelligence and defense cooperation with China.

According to the order, Cuba "welcomes transnational terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas."

Trump also cited the Cuban government’s human rights record, accusing the regime of persecuting and torturing political opponents, denying free speech and press freedoms, and retaliating against families of political prisoners who protest peacefully.

"The United States has zero tolerance for the depredations of the communist Cuban regime," Trump said in the order, adding that the administration will act to hold the regime accountable while supporting the Cuban people’s aspirations for a free and democratic society.

CUBA'S SHADOW IN VENEZUELA: HAVANA’S INTELLIGENCE AND MILITARY TIES EXPOSED AFTER MADURO RAID

Under the order, the Commerce Department will determine whether a foreign country is supplying oil to Cuba, either directly or through intermediaries. The State Department, working with Treasury, Homeland Security, Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative, will decide whether and how steep the new tariffs should be if so.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is tasked with monitoring the national emergency and reporting to Congress, while the Commerce Department will continue tracking which countries are supplying oil to Cuba.

In a fact sheet, the White House said the order is designed to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s "malign actions and policies," and described the move as part of Trump’s broader effort to confront regimes that threaten American interests.

The administration said the action builds on Trump’s first-term Cuba policy, which reversed Obama-era engagement and reinstated tougher measures against the communist government.

The executive order is set to take effect Friday.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for additional comment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently revoked Iranian senior officials and their family members' privilege to travel to the U.S., citing ongoing oppression by the regime.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is accused of killing more than 6,200 protesters since Dec. 28, with nearly 17,100 additional arrests as internet communications remain halted, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

"As the people of Iran continue to fight for their basic rights, [Rubio] took action this week to revoke the privilege of Iranian senior officials and their family members to be in the United States," the State Department wrote in an X post. "Those who profit from the Iranian regime's brutal oppression are not welcome to benefit from our immigration system."

In addition to the potential civil rights violations in Iran, tensions have flared between Khamenei and President Donald Trump, as the U.S. attempts to strike a nuclear deal.

IRAN'S TOP PROSECUTOR CRITICIZES TRUMP'S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT 800+ EXECUTIONS WERE HALTED: 'COMPLETELY FALSE'

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday the nation's military is "prepared—with their fingers on the trigger—to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea."

Araghchi claimed that Iran has "always welcomed" a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable nuclear deal that would ensure Iran's rights to peaceful nuclear technology, and guarantee no nuclear weapons.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES 'FINAL' 25% TARIFF ON COUNTRIES DOING BUSINESS WITH IRAN REGIME

Trump fired back on Truth Social, warning a "massive" armada was heading to Iran "with speed and violence, if necessary."

"Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" Trump wrote in a post. "As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again."

The president said Thursday night it would be "great" if the U.S. did not have to use the military fleet.

The State Department on Wednesday also demanded Tehran overturn the death penalty for 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, a decorated Iranian wrestler who was arrested while peacefully protesting against the regime earlier this month.

Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

After the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from dozens of United Nations and other international organizations, experts say more international bodies could soon find themselves on the chopping block.

The announcement that the U.S. would exit 66 international organizations was in response to President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order calling for a review of U.S. support to "all international organizations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in reaction to the announcement that the U.S. is "rejecting an outdated model of multilateralism — one that treats the American taxpayer as the world’s underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance." Rubio warned the State Department continues to review international organizations, and that those subject to the January cuts "are by no means the only offenders."

Rubio said that the U.S. was not turning its back on the world but was looking to review the "international system," which he said, "is now overrun with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with overlapping mandates, duplicative actions, ineffective outputs and poor financial and ethical governance."

UN BLASTED FOR FUNDING COMMITTEE 'CREATED TO DESTROY THE JEWISH STATE,' DESPITE BUDGET CRISIS

Hugh Dugan, former Senior Director for International Organization Affairs at the National Security Council during President Trump's first term, told Fox News Digital that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres "always misread" the prior executive order "as a cost-cutting directive." In trying to "cut his way to growth" through the UN80 initiative, 

Dugan said that Guterres "meat-cleavered budgets, hitting bone and flesh as much as fat, but at base it was business as usual: no focus on the U.N.'s pitiful return on investment.  Instead of only cutting the bottom line, also he should have grown the top line by working smarter for new efficiencies."   

Launched in March 2025, the UN80 initiative was designed to identify inefficiencies inside the U.N. system and cut costs across an expansive bureaucracy. In response to Trump's withdrawal from U.N. entities, Guterres' spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement that the secretary general, "regrets the announcement by the White House," and stated that "assessed contributions to the United Nations' regular budget and peacekeeping budget...are a legal obligation under the U.N. Charter for all Member States, including the United States."

Brett Schaefer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital that impacted organizations external to the U.N. "don’t receive very much money," and "don’t necessarily merit U.S. funding or support." Withdrawing from those organizations is "more pruning around the margins than a fundamental reassessment of U.S. relationships with international organizations," he said.

For the 31 U.N.-affiliated groups on the list, Schaefer said that the withdrawal order is "an opportunity to signal to the U.N. where the United States would like to see consolidation or elimination of duplication, which is rather rife within the U.N. system."

RUBIO SLAMS UNRWA AS A 'SUBSIDIARY OF HAMAS,' VOWS IT WILL NOT 'PLAY ANY ROLE' IN DELIVERING AID TO GAZA

Schaefer said that withdrawing from the U.N. Population Fund and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was "very consistent with the Trump administration’s policy." Schaefer also indicated that withdrawing from the U.N. Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was a formalization of policy shift that occurred in 2018 when UNCTAD admitted "Palestinians as a full member state" and U.S. law "prohibit[ed] U.S. funding" for the organization.

Other choices, like departing from the U.N. Department for Economic and Social Affairs, "didn’t quite make sense," Schaefer said. He noted that the department is funded through the regular U.N. budget, which makes the move "more of a signal than it is really an effective policy."

Schaefer noted several organizations, including the World Meteorological Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and U.N. Development Programme, that could be subject to future cuts.

While smaller nations utilize the UNDP to administer their humanitarian donations, the U.S. does not need "a middleman" to fund non-governmental organizations and provide aid, Schaefer said. He also noted that the organization "has had a problem with corruption" that included concealing North Korean counterfeit money and providing the country with dual-use technology.

Schaefer said that the U.S. can "promote agricultural development in developing countries" through entities outside the FAO, which he said is "currently led by a Chinese national" who is "using that organization to promote Chinese policies and Chinese commercial interests in developing countries."

On Dec. 31, UNOCHA was a signatory to a memo "which was sharply critical of Israel," Schaefer said. Schaefer believes the memo constituted "a violation of their neutrality" that should result in reprimand. Schaefer said that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher "has made repeated statements echoing false accusations of Israel causing famine and hunger and other humanitarian suffering in Gaza that has since been proved to be false and without basis."

The WIPO, WMO, and FAO declined to comment about whether they might be a target of future cuts.

TRUMP PULLS US OUT OF UN-LINKED MIGRATION FORUM IN BOLD IMMIGRATION MOVE

A UNDP spokesperson said that the U.S. "has been a steadfast partner" and that the it maintains its commitment to working alongside the U.S. to "address urgent humanitarian needs, promote stability, and advance prosperity worldwide." The spokesperson noted that "UNDP projects are subject to strict oversight and accountability policies and mechanisms," with the UNDP "consistently rank[ing] amongst the most transparent organizations included in the [Aid Transparency Index.] 

According to the UNDP spokesperson, "no evidence of systematic fraud or diversion of funds was found" when concerns involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were investigated in 2006. The spokesperson said that the DPRK project "concluded in 2020. Any future engagement would require consensus from UNDP’s Executive Board and clear directives from Member States."

A UNOCHA spokesperson noted that the U.S. had just signed an agreement with UNOCHA "reinforcing our partnership."

The U.S. pledged to allocate $2 billion to UNOCHA at the end of December for global humanitarian needs.[iii] In recent years, officials previously told Fox News Digital that the U.S. had contributed between $8 and $10 billion to UNOCHA

Greenland's prime minister declared Tuesday that, "we choose Denmark," if it had to decide between remaining a Danish territory or becoming part of the United States, a report said. 

Jens-Frederik Nielsen made the remark while appearing alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a joint press conference in Copenhagen, according to Reuters. 

"We face a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the U.S. and Denmark here and now then we choose Denmark," Nielsen reportedly said. "We stand united in the Kingdom of Denmark." 

The comment comes as Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt are set to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday at the White House, Reuters reported.

TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS ‘TWO DOG SLEDS’ AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY

"Our reason for seeking the meeting we have now been given was to move this whole discussion, which has not become less tense since we last met, into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things," Rasmussen said. 

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News that Rasmussen will be visiting the White House. 

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. must acquire Greenland — not lease it — arguing the Arctic territory lacks defenses and warning that Russia or China would move in if Washington does not act, a move he said is critical to U.S. and NATO security.

EUROPEAN ALLIES WORKING ON PLAN IF US ACTS ON ACQUIRING GREENLAND: REPORT

While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump was asked about Greenland and whether the U.S. had made an offer to acquire the territory from Denmark. 

"I haven’t done that. Greenland should make the deal because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over," he said. "Basically, their defense is two dog sleds. You know that? You know what their defense is? Two dog sleds. 

The president was also clear that his administration is not talking about leasing Greenland short term, but only about acquiring the Danish territory. 

"If we don’t do it, Russia or China will, and that’s not going to happen when I'm president," Trump said. 

Fox News' Patrick Ward and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.