Laura Chinchilla gave a thumbs-up to supporters in San Jose after the presidential candidate voted yesterday. (Esteban Felix/Associated Press)
That's the sexiest rodent I ever saw!
"Woman on verge of history in Costa Rica; Chinchilla would become country’s 1st female leader" by Marianela Jimenez, Associated Press | February 8, 2010
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Costa Ricans appeared likely to elect their first woman president yesterday as Central America’s most politically and economically stable country chose between a career politician from the ruling party and an antitaxation Libertarian....
I know whom I would have chosen.
Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement Party emerged as Laura Chinchilla’s biggest challenger. He promised to lower taxes, dismantle monopolies, and adopt the US dollar as the country’s currency....
Might want to rethink that last one. Who grabs on to a sinking anchor?
If victorious, Chinchilla, who served as vice president under current President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and free-market enthusiast, Chinchilla has pledged to continue Arias’s moderate free-market policies that brought Costa Rica into the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and initiated trade relations with China after a 63-year association with Taiwan.
Another mixed bag, 'eh, AmeriKa?
But critics of the government say Arias catered to big developers to boost the economy at the cost of the nation’s fragile ecosystems....
No military, either.
But most Costa Ricans appeared reluctant to shake up the status quo in a country with relatively high salaries, the longest life expectancy in Latin America, a thriving ecotourism industry, and near-universal literacy.
Many Americans don't understand what that means.
Chinchilla, a 50-year-old mother and a social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage, appealed to Costa Ricans seeking a fresh face in politics and those reluctant to risk the unknown.
NO WAY!!! She's 50!!!!!?!!!
WOWEE!!!!!!!
And GREAT POSITIONS, too!!!
If Chinchilla wins, she would follow an increasingly common trend in many Latin American countries: Nicaragua, Panama, Chil,e and Argentina have elected women as presidents.
Chinchilla was the country’s first female public security minister between 1996 and 1998. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University in Washington in 1989.
Yeah, she's one of 'em, but wowee! 50, huh?
Heizel Arias, a 24-year-old single mother who voted at a prison where she is serving an eight-year sentence for trying to smuggle drugs into a jail, said she cast her vote for Chinchilla.
“I voted for Laura Chinchilla because she has promised to fight for women,’’ Arias said. “All of us here are going to vote for Laura because she was the only one who visited us and told us her plans and I believe in her.’’
During the campaign, Chinchilla said that, if elected, she would increase deficit spending to help create jobs.That didn't work here.
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"In landslide, Costa Rica elects its first woman president" by Associated Press | February 9, 2010
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - The country elected its first woman president over the weekend as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide.
With most of the votes from Sunday’s election counted, Laura Chinchilla beat her closest rival by 22 points after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America’s most stable nation. Her 47 percent share of the vote was well beyond the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
The 50-year-old protégé of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the United States and opened commerce with China.
“Today we are making history,’’ said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman in the world to serve as president when she takes office in May. “The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it.’’ Nicaragua, Panama, Chile, and Argentina have elected women as presidents....
It was unclear whether Chinchilla’s National Liberation Party would gain a majority in the Legislature. Analyst Heather Berkman of the Eurasia Group said building a coalition without a majority would probably delay or end controversial fiscal efforts to shore up government finances and energy deregulation.
So it's not all great, huh? Lady going to have to figure out the pocketbook, 'eh?
Hey, look, their is a LOT of WASTE and ABUSE that DESERVES BASHING as well as an OVERREACHING GOVERNMENT!
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Ah, like most of them they don't look as good close up.
I'm ONLY TEASING, ladies!
You are ALL BEAUTIFUL just the way GOD MADE YOU!
