Costa Rica Elects its First Female President

Laura Chinchilla Miranda, candidate for the ruling Partido Nacional de Liberacion (National Liberation Party), was elected yesterday as Costa Rica's first woman president.

Costa Rica [2] has always been a progressive nation and an exemplar for the Americas in advancing the equal rights of women. Women outnumber men in many occupations, and the nation has had several female vice-presidents, including both vice-presidents in the 1998-2001 Angel Rodriguez administation.

The historic victory in the election held on Sunday, 7th February 2010, also demonstrated the electorate's faith in the outgoing Oscar Arias administration's policies, as Chinchilla defeated second-place candidate Otton Solis, of the Citizen's Action Party, by an unprecedented two-to-one margin with 47 percent of the vote. Otto Guevara, of the Libertarian Movement, came in third with a respectacble 20.9 percent.

Chinchilla served as one of Óscar Arias Sánchez's two Vice-Presidents and as his administration's Minister of Justice, prior to which she served in the National Assembly as a deputy for the province of San José.

For further information about travel in Costa Rica, buy Moon Costa Rica [3]

Copyright © Christopher P. Baker