Except as noted, all images copyrighted by and should be attributed to E B Hawley.
I had become many eons ago a traveling literary gnome, inquisitive about places I had and had not visited,
walking the same paths of peoples from the past, through places once grand and still grand,
photographing images that now show me the places about which I still dream . . .

Monday, February 8, 2010

Costa Rica Elects First Woman President


(CNN) -- Costa Rica elected its first female president, as the ruling National Liberation Party claimed a historic victory.
"I want to thank the pioneering women who years ago opened the doors of politics in Costa Rica," Laura Chinchilla said Sunday to flag-waving supporters in the capital, San Jose. "My government will be open to all Costa Ricans of good faith."
Second-place candidate Otton Solis of the Citizen's Action Party had conceded defeat earlier in the evening, as the PLN -- the Spanish acronym for the National Liberation Party party -- forged its way to a nearly 2-to-1 lead.
Polls showed Chinchilla garnering 46.8 percent of the vote, with 84 percent of election sites reporting. Solis had 25.1 percent, while Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement had 20.9 percent.
Election day was festive throughout the nation, with video footage showing supporters of the main presidential candidates dressed in their respective campaign colors.
International observers interviewed on CNN affiliate Teletica compared the election scene to a festival.
The festivities included election sites where children could vote in a mock presidential vote. The educational outreach let the children pick their candidate on a digital ballot not unlike the ones the rest of the electorate cast their votes with.
Some 2.8 million Costa Ricans are eligible to vote.
In addition to voting for president, Costa Ricans cast ballots for two vice presidents, 57 Congress members and 495 council members.
The legacy of outgoing President Oscar Arias -- a Nobel laureate who leaves office a popular, if polarizing, leader -- has in many ways shaped the presidential race.
Although he has given Costa Rica a larger role in foreign affairs through his involvement in seeking resolution to the political crisis in Honduras, but his style has rubbed some the wrong way.
After casting his vote Sunday, Arias called the electoral process transparent and trustworthy.
"I would like to thank the Costa Rican people for filling the streets with color," he said.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Let Lovely Turn of Phrase Begin

JMHawley Gave Me a Kiss to Build a Dream On

Listen, will you? I think that . . . literature, poetry, music and love make the world go round . . . while mathematics explains things; I fill my life with them, then go walking in snowy woods.
Let us go then, you and I
like two etherized patients floating
through life, together feeling prufrockian.
DDB Jr. makes my world go 'round; during his absence, Pachelbel fills it up.
One summer I sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, then through the Gulf of Finland to reach Saint Petersburg; I pursued Joseph Brodsky in its alley ways. I dream of making that two summers.
I read “Biking to Electra;” found my way in a Jaguar car, and glanced at the flashing steel grasshoppers at sunset. I’ll follow K.O.P.’s footsteps after he followed N.Scott Momaday’s; find warmth and inspiration on a rainy mountain.
Throw chinese coins for the I Ching.
Save the whales, the spotted owl, the woman in toil.
Cast a fly for trout; my memories of fly fishing under the sunny blue Colorado sky remain; I yearn to build more . . . with more trophy Browns.
Listen for the swan’s calls on the Baltic Sea. Feel KKII's joy, his arms spread wide in Yazilikaya.
Good night, Jimmy Durante, where ever you are.