Costa Rica Elects First Female President in Country’s History

MEXICO CITY — Costa Ricans elected a former vice president, Laura Chinchilla, as the country’s first female president, giving the ruling party a resounding victory.

Laura Chinchilla, who won 47 percent of the vote, with supporters Sunday after voting in San

Ms. Chinchilla, 50, won 47 percent of the vote, and both the second- and third-place candidates, the leftist Ottón Solís and the libertarian Otto Guevara, conceded before 10 p.m. Sunday.

Ms. Chinchilla thanked her supporters through Twitter before heading to a hotel in the capital, San José, to deliver her victory speech.

The dominant theme of the campaign was voters’ concerns over rising crime, and Ms. Chinchilla, a former minister of justice, has promised to raise spending on security by 50 percent. Speaking to the crowd, she said: “The greatest challenge we have is crime, violence and drug trafficking. I have said it in a dramatic way: Central America could be the last battlefield of the war taking place in Colombia and Mexico.” She added, “We must recuperate our tranquillity.”

Ms. Chinchilla, of the National Liberation Party, promised continuity with the free-trade policies of out-going President Óscar Arias, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who helped guide Central America out of its cold war conflicts.

Although she follows the center-left welfare policies of her party, she is social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage. Ms. Chinchilla holds a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University and is the mother of a teenage boy.

As the early results were announced, Ms. Chinchilla’s supporters began to fill the streets of the capital, waving the party’s green and white flag.

Although Costa Rica is still a relative oasis of peace and economic development in Central America, the rising crime rate there became the dominant issue in the campaign. Ms. Chinchilla blamed organized crime and the spillover from drug trafficking through Central America.

The global economic crisis pushed Costa Rica into recession last year, but the economy is expected to grow this year.

Both of Ms. Chinchilla’s leading opponents had argued that if she won, Mr. Arias, who is 69, would continue to wield power from behind the scenes. A campaign commercial for Mr. Solís showed Mr. Arias pulling the strings on a marionette representing Ms. Chinchilla.

The campaign has had its share of unusual moments. In response to questions over campaign financing, Mr. Guevara took a polygraph test on television. Mr. Solís also submitted to a test, but Ms. Chinchilla declined.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/world/americas/09costarica.html?ref=world

NY Times
By ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: February 8, 2010

The Happiest People

Hmmm. You think it’s a coincidence? Costa Rica is one of the very few countries to have abolished its army, and it’s also arguably the happiest nation on earth.

There are several ways of measuring happiness in countries, all inexact, but this pearl of Central America does stunningly well by whatever system is used. For example, the World Database of Happiness, compiled by a Dutch sociologist on the basis of answers to surveys by Gallup and others, lists Costa Rica in the top spot out of 148 nations.

That’s because Costa Ricans, asked to rate their own happiness on a 10-point scale, average 8.5. Denmark is next at 8.3, the United States ranks 20th at 7.4 and Togo and Tanzania bring up the caboose at 2.6.

Scholars also calculate happiness by determining “happy life years.” This figure results from merging average self-reported happiness, as above, with life expectancy. Using this system, Costa Rica again easily tops the list. The United States is 19th, and Zimbabwe comes in last.

A third approach is the “happy planet index,” devised by the New Economics Foundation, a liberal think tank. This combines happiness and longevity but adjusts for environmental impact — such as the carbon that countries spew.

Here again, Costa Rica wins the day, for achieving contentment and longevity in an environmentally sustainable way. The Dominican Republic ranks second, the United States 114th (because of its huge ecological footprint) and Zimbabwe is last.

Maybe Costa Rican contentment has something to do with the chance to explore dazzling beaches on both sides of the country, when one isn’t admiring the sloths in the jungle (sloths truly are slothful, I discovered; they are the tortoises of the trees). Costa Rica has done an unusually good job preserving nature, and it’s surely easier to be happy while basking in sunshine and greenery than while shivering up north and suffering “nature deficit disorder.”

After dragging my 12-year-old daughter through Honduran slums and Nicaraguan villages on this trip, she was delighted to see a Costa Rican beach and stroll through a national park. Among her favorite animals now: iguanas and sloths.

(Note to boss: Maybe we should have a columnist based in Costa Rica?)

What sets Costa Rica apart is its remarkable decision in 1949 to dissolve its armed forces and invest instead in education. Increased schooling created a more stable society, less prone to the conflicts that have raged elsewhere in Central America. Education also boosted the economy, enabling the country to become a major exporter of computer chips and improving English-language skills so as to attract American eco-tourists.

I’m not antimilitary. But the evidence is strong that education is often a far better investment than artillery.

In Costa Rica, rising education levels also fostered impressive gender equality so that it ranks higher than the United States in the World Economic Forum gender gap index. This allows Costa Rica to use its female population more productively than is true in most of the region. Likewise, education nurtured improvements in health care, with life expectancy now about the same as in the United States — a bit longer in some data sets, a bit shorter in others.

Rising education levels also led the country to preserve its lush environment as an economic asset. Costa Rica is an ecological pioneer, introducing a carbon tax in 1997. The Environmental Performance Index, a collaboration of Yale and Columbia Universities, ranks Costa Rica at No. 5 in the world, the best outside Europe.

This emphasis on the environment hasn’t sabotaged Costa Rica’s economy but has bolstered it. Indeed, Costa Rica is one of the few countries that is seeing migration from the United States: Yankees are moving here to enjoy a low-cost retirement. My hunch is that in 25 years, we’ll see large numbers of English-speaking retirement communities along the Costa Rican coast.

Latin countries generally do well in happiness surveys. Mexico and Colombia rank higher than the United States in self-reported contentment. Perhaps one reason is a cultural emphasis on family and friends, on social capital over financial capital — but then again, Mexicans sometimes slip into the United States, presumably in pursuit of both happiness and assets.

Cross-country comparisons of happiness are controversial and uncertain. But what does seem quite clear is that Costa Rica’s national decision to invest in education rather than arms has paid rich dividends. Maybe the lesson for the United States is that we should devote fewer resources to shoring up foreign armies and more to bolstering schools both at home and abroad.

In the meantime, I encourage you to conduct your own research in Costa Rica, exploring those magnificent beaches or admiring those slothful sloths. It’ll surely make you happy.

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: January 6, 2010

Costa Rica Plays Host to Peace Talks, Again

Two days of talks in Costa Rica aimed at ending the political crisis in Honduras have ended without agreement.

Mediators from the host country said the two sides had agreed to resume talks shortly but some regional leaders said they saw little sign of progress.

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti had refused to meet but held separate talks with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

Correspondents say the former allies’ positions remain far apart.

Mr Zelaya, who was removed from Honduras at gun point in a coup last month, continues to describe Mr Micheletti as a criminal, while Mr Micheletti’s interim government has said Mr Zelaya will be arrested if he tries to return to the country.

Both men left the talks on Thursday, leaving delegations behind to continue the discussions.

Rival delegations are to continue talks with Mr Arias (right)

Mr Zelaya flew to the Dominican Republic, where he is hoping to gather more support, and Mr Micheletti has returned to Honduras.

On arriving back in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, Mr Micheletti said: “We are in agreement with his [Mr Zelaya's] return here – but to be sent directly to the courts.”

Shortly after his return, Mr Micheletti announced he had accepted the resignation of his de facto Foreign Minister, Enrique Ortez, for using racially offensive language about US President Barack Obama.

Mr Ortez was reported to have described Mr Obama as “negrito” – meaning “little black man” – which Mr Micheletti said was “a scandalous epithet”.

‘Timid measures’

On Friday, Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela and one of Mr Zelaya’s key supporters, said the talks in Costa Rica were dead and that it was “horrible” to see the “usurper” Mr Micheletti being treated with deference by Mr Arias.

CRISIS TIMELINE 28 June: Troops expel Zelaya; Micheletti becomes interim leader 29 June: US President Obama condemns the overthrow as illegal 4 July: Organization of American States suspends Honduras 5 July: Zelaya’s jet is turned back from Honduras, amid clashes 9 July: Micheletti leaves mediated talks in Costa Rica

Mr Chavez also criticised what he said were “timid measures” by the US in response to the crisis and demanded to know why they had not recalled their ambassador imposed sanctions.

The BBC’s Charles Scanlon in the region says much will now depend on what Washington decides to do next.

The US has already cut some aid to Honduras but has not exerted its full economic and diplomatic muscle, says our correspondent.

The political crisis erupted after Mr Zelaya attempted to hold a non-binding public consultation to ask people whether they supported moves to change the constitution.

Opponents said that could have led to the removal of the current one-term limit on serving as president and so paved the way for Mr Zelaya’s possible re-election.

He was forced out of Honduras at gunpoint on 28 June.

Costa Rica’s Voted Happiest Country

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters Life!) – Costa Rica is very nearly paradise,
not just for holiday-makers lounging on its beaches, but for its
citizens who are extremely satisfied with their lot and also have a
tiny carbon footprint.

The combination has earned the Central American country first place in
a new Happy Planet Index (HPI) published on Monday.

While leaders of the developed world attending G8 talks in Italy worry
away at economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
deflation and their implications for economic recovery, the second
edition of the HPI lauds alternative standards that provide a new
twist on the old adage that wealth does not buy happiness.

Costa Rica stands out for the highest levels of reported life
satisfaction, a long life expectancy of 78.5 years and because 99
percent of its energy comes from renewable sources.

Latin American nations generally fare well, bagging nine of the 10 top
spots, and Sub-Saharan Africa performs very badly, with Zimbabwe
taking bottom place. It scores 16.6 out of 100, compared with Costa
Rica’s HPI total of 76.1, according to an advance copy of the report.

Somewhere in between are the world’s wealthiest economies.

The United States placed 114th out of the 143 nations surveyed, with
an HPI result of 30.7 and was found to be “greener and happier” 10
years ago than today — as were China and India, ranked respectively
20th and 35th, with scores of 57.1 and 53.

ECONOMIC GROWTH A SIREN SONG

“Following the siren’s song of economic growth has delivered only
marginal benefits to the world’s poorest while undermining the basis
of their livelihoods,” said Nic Marks of the New Economic Foundation,
a London-based “think and do tank” that pursues “real economic
well-being” and is the brains behind the HPI.

“What’s more, it hasn’t notably improved the well-being of those who
were already rich, or even provided economic stability.”

The aim, Marks said, was “to break the spell” and work towards “a high
well-being, low-carbon economy before our high-consuming lifestyles
plunge us into the chaos of irreversible climate change.”

To measure the efficiency with which countries convert the earth’s
finite resources into their citizens’ well-being, the HPI takes three
separate indicators — ecological footprint, life-satisfaction and
life-expectancy — and then carries out complex calculations.

First published in 2006 as “a radical departure from our current
obsession with GDP,” the HPI’s sums have been criticised for not
taking sufficient account of issues such as political freedom, but the
index has also found followers.

Within two days of the launch of the first HPI, it was downloaded and
read in 185 countries worldwide.

Among those who have taken up the idea are David Cameron, leader of
Britain’s opposition Conservative political party, and the European
Commission has launched a programme “Beyond GDP” in pursuit of ways to
measure progress better adapted to our age.

Anyone can calculate their own HPI though the Happy Planet Index
website, www.happyplanetindex.org

By Barbara Lewis

Oscar Arias, the Nobel Prize and Student Travel

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1987/arias-bio.htm

Oscar Arias Sánchez was born in 1940. After studying in the United States, he read law and economics at the University of Costa Rica in the capital, San Jose. As a student he engaged actively in the work of the National Liberation Party. Having completed his degree, he went on to take a doctorate in England, with a thesis on the subject of “Who rules Costa Rica?” He is the author of a number of books and articles on political and historical subjects.

Arias embarked on his political career in earnest in 1970, as assistant to José Figueres, a former President who was again seeking election. When Figueres was elected in 1972, Arias was given a seat in the government as Minister of National Planning and Political Economy. In 1975 his party elected him International Secretary and in 1979, General Secretary. He represented the party at several Socialist International congresses.

In the 1978 elections, when the Christian Social Unity Party won the presidency, Arias was elected to the Legislative Assembly but withdrew in 1981 to work for his party’s presidential candidate, Luis Alberto Monge, who won in 1982. Nominated himself in 1985, Arias was elected President in 1986, winning 52.3% of the votes against 45.8% for the Christian Social Unity candidate. As President, he intervened against the activities of U.S.-backed Contras on Costa Rican territory. Although critical of the political system in Nicaragua, Arias has concentrated on engaging Nicaragua and the other Central American states in a peace-making process. In May 1986, he met the Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua to discuss the proposals for a peaceful solution that had been worked out by the Contadora group. They did not reach full agreement, but early in 1987 Arias succeeded in calling a new meeting at which he submitted his own peace plan, departing in some respects from the Contadora plan. The accord approved by the five Presidents in Guatemala on August 7 was based on President Arias’s plan.