Costa Rica: Neutrality Pays Off

Amid the chronic bloodletting of Central America, Costa Rica stands out as an oasis of calm. But when the quadrennial presidential elections roll around, the country erupts into a celebration of its nearly century-old democracy that resembles nothing quite so much as a homecoming football game. Music blares, drivers honk, and flags decorate the streets. The Feb. 2 elections were no different. After more than 1 million voters went to the polls, Oscar Arias Sanchez of the ruling National Liberation Party emerged triumphant with 52.3% of the vote, defeating the Social Christian Unity Party's Rafael Angel Calderon Fournier, who claimed 45.7% of the count.

Many found little difference between the two candidates. But Arias, 44, seized victory by exploiting his party ties to the outgoing President, Luis Alberto Monge, who is credited with having kept Costa Rica afloat despite a $4.4 billion foreign debt. Arias also portrayed himself as the peace candidate, upholding his country's policy of neutrality while insisting that Costa Rica, which disbanded its army in 1948, must hold the line against the pro-Marxist Sandinista regime across the border in Nicaragua.