Costa Rica ’s Election: It Wasn’t the Economy, Stupid!

Is it the economy, stupid? A preliminary analysis would have concluded that such a maxim would prevail in Costa Rica ’s presidential race: unemployment is high (especially among the youth), the cost of living is one of the highest in Latin America, and public finances are at a breaking point. However, culture wars, in particular same-sex marriage, dominated the debate leading up to the first round of elections h eld on Sunday. How can this be explained?From the beginning this was an atypical presidential race for Costa Rica, due to the rise of a right-wing populist candidate who led the polls for many months. With a messianic and authoritarian rhetoric of “rebuilding the country” aimed at a “direct democracy with no parties or corrupt politicians,” Juan Diego Castro, a well-known litigation lawyer and former minister of security, became the candidate of the until then miniscule and irrelevant National Integration Party.Castro ’s phenomenon showed once again something that had become evident during the previous election: Costa Rica, Latin America’s oldest democracy, is not immune to populism. The country harbors several conditions that feed such a phenomenon. There is a tremendous animosity towards the political class , which is perceived as both corrupt and inept. This resentment also affects the media, businesspeople, and the judiciary. The rise of violent crime—2017 recorded the highest homicide rate in the country’s history—and the perception that the a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs