Ana Virginia Calzada Miranda

Ana Virginia Calzada Miranda was one of five women among the twenty candidates who contested Costa Rica’s presidential election on February 1, 2026. She ran as the candidate of the Democratic and Social Center Party and entered the race as a non-incumbent with a long career in Costa Rica’s judiciary and legal system.

Born in San José and raised in Tibás, Calzada entered the University of Costa Rica at a young age and went on to study law. Her professional career was centered largely on the courts, where she worked in areas including family law, criminal law, constitutional law, and environmental law. She later became the first woman appointed as a magistrate of Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber and went on to serve three terms as president of that chamber. Her career also included leadership roles in judicial education and administration, as well as work as a university professor, lawyer, notary, lecturer, and international consultant.

Calzada earned a law degree from the University of Costa Rica and later pursued further studies in constitutional, family, and environmental law. She also undertook doctoral studies in Environmental Law at the University of Alicante in Spain.

Calzada’s presidential campaign emphasized public security and the strengthening of state institutions. She proposed combining tougher responses to organized crime with preventive policies focused on education, youth opportunities, sports, and culture. She also supported stronger coordination among the police, prosecutors, and judicial authorities, together with greater use of technology and financial intelligence.

A second major focus of Calzada’s campaign was education and public services. She supported progressively increasing education spending toward the constitutional target of 8% of GDP, improving school infrastructure and connectivity, strengthening teacher training, and addressing learning gaps in literacy and mathematics. More broadly, her platform called for stronger public institutions, improved access to healthcare, and greater use of digital tools to make government more efficient and accountable.