Costa Ricans look to turn the page after a rough few years

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Luis Guillermo Solis of the Citizen Action Party walked away with a victory in yesterday's presidential runoff in Costa Rica. In what has been a rather strange campaign season, Solis picked up 78 percent of the vote, finishing well ahead of his rival Johnny Araya. While not as high a percentage as usual, 57 percent of the voters turned out yesterday. However, Solis did capture the highest absolute number of votes for a single candidate in Costa Rica's history (just like El Salvador's Salvador Sanchez Ceren).

Now it is on to governing with little money and little congressional support.

A published author well versed in international relations and global trade, Solis ran on a promise to fight Costa Rica's stubborn poverty rate and to stamp out corruption, an issue that has dogged incumbent President Laura Chinchilla's administration and which struck a chord with voters.

"It's been four years of daily suffering," said Mercedes Castillo, a 66-year-old housewife and mother-of-three, after voting for Solis at a high school in the capital, San Jose. "There's just too much corruption."

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He faces an uphill battle in a National Assembly where his party will have only 13 of 57 seats, although analysts tout his ability to reach across the aisle thanks to his ties to the PLN.

He must also square rising government debt with a campaign promise not to raise taxes for two years, despite pledges to boost spending on education.

"He's going to have a government without money, a fiscal deficit of 6 percent, and lots of social spending commitments," said Jose Carlos Chinchilla, a political analyst and a director at the University of Costa Rica.

Solis has also said he hopes to attract new businesses to Costa Rica's booming free-trade zones, which have enticed the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co.

Congrats and good luck president-elect.