Costa Rica – Presidential Election On Easter Sunday Over Gay Rights

The 5 million strong Central American nation of Costa Rica, which is mostly seen as a peaceful tourist destination, goes to the polls today in the second round of its presidential election. Its citizens can choose between two men both named Alvarado, with opposing views on the topic of gay rights. Both candidates are locked in a dead heat according to the latest polls.

A corruption scandal (mainly over Chinese cement companies) saw the popularity of current socialist President Luis Guillermo Solís and his party plummet, leaving left-wing candidate Mr Carlos Alvarado Quesada of the ruling Citizens' Action Party (PAC), with a lot less lead than is normally the case in this Central American state.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">Elecciones en Costa Rica: Fabricio Alvarado vs. Carlos Alvarado, el cantante evangélico y el escritor que se enfrentan por la presidencia <a href="https://t.co/X2cVBp1DJN">https://t.co/X2cVBp1DJN</a> <a href="https://t.co/eRPaG7MQkL">pic.twitter.com/eRPaG7MQkL</a></p>&mdash; BBC Mundo (@bbcmundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/bbcmundo/status/980434125504045057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Furthermore, his lead was eaten away by the conservative party’s candidate, an evangelical pastor who has caught many by surprise.

Mr Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz has declared he’ll challenge the rights of same-sex couples, will consider withdrawing from the Inter-American Human Rights Court and will uphold the country’s rigid anti-abortion laws.

To the surprise of many, Mr Muñoz, who used to be a singer of ballads, garnered a lot of support and according to the latest polls this week, a slight advantage over his left-wing rival.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s election day in Costa Rica, and it&#39;s dominated by debate over a court order allowing same-sex marriage.<br><br>Fabricio Alvarado, a conservative evangelical, vows to remove Costa Rica from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights&#39; jurisdiction.<a href="https://t.co/nwImHRmy4i">https://t.co/nwImHRmy4i</a></p>&mdash; Zach Carter (@zachjcarter) <a href="https://twitter.com/zachjcarter/status/980432916743417856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Many gays in the country are afraid of what will happen if Mr Muñoz will win on Sunday and various families have (as was the case during the US Presidential election in 2016) blamed the other family members for not being on their side.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One leading pollster has the two Alvarados in a statistical dead heat ahead of Costa Rica&#39;s April 1 presidential runoff.<br><br>But two other surveys give the edge to evangelical leader and congressman Fabricio. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EleccionesCR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EleccionesCR</a> <a href="https://t.co/i6RKavwPmX">https://t.co/i6RKavwPmX</a> <a href="https://t.co/mLBggkiEP5">pic.twitter.com/mLBggkiEP5</a></p>&mdash; Americas Society/Council of the Americas (@ASCOA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASCOA/status/979419941458862080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2018</a></blockquote>

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For example, a 70-year-old retiree named Ms Maria Mora had just finished praying inside the church and when she was interviewed exiting the building, she acknowledged many Costa Ricans harbor anti-gay views.

“The older ones especially, but what I say is you could have a gay son or grandchild,” she said. “We are the parents that have to support them and love them equally.”

Source:

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/costa-ricans-split-over-gay-marriage-vote-for-next-president/