First Female President
Many Tv channels around the world have informed about the handover ceremony on Costa Rica, where Oscar Arias transfer the presidency to Laura Chinchilla, making her the first female president of Costa Rica. In order to inform our readers about her profile we extract some information.
Her Profile
Laura Chinchilla Miranda (born 28 March 1959) is a Costa Rican politician and the first female President of Costa Rica. She was one of Óscar Arias Sánchez’s two Vice-Presidents and his administration’s Minister of Justice. She was the governing PLN candidate for President in the 2010 general election, where she won with 46.76% of the vote. She is the sixth woman to be elected president of a Latin American country. She was sworn as president of Costa Rica on May 8, 2010
Family life
Chinchilla was born in Carmen Central, San José in 1959. Her father was Rafael Ángel Chinchilla Fallas (a former comptroller of Costa Rica) and her mother was Emilce Miranda Castillo. She married Mario Alberto Madrigal Díaz on 23 January 1982 and divorced on 22 May 1985. She had a son in 1996 with José María Rico Cueto, a Spanish lawyer who also holds Canadian citizenship; Chinchilla married him on 26 March 2000.
Career
Chinchilla graduated from the University of Costa Rica and received her master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Prior to entering politics, Chinchilla worked as an NGO consultant in Latin America and Africa, specializing in judicial reform and public security issues. She went on to serve in the José María Figueres Olsen administration as vice-minister for public security (1994–1996) and minister of public security (1996–1998). From 2002 to 2006, she served in the National Assembly as a deputy for the province of San José.
Chinchilla was one of two vice-presidents elected under the second Arias administration (2006–2010). She resigned the vice-presidency in 2008 in order to prepare her run for the presidency in 2010. On 7 June 2009 she won the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) primary with a 15% margin over her nearest rival, and was thus endorsed as the party’s presidential candidate.
Political life
Chinchilla’s Partido Liberación Nacional is a member of the Socialist International, whose motto is the promotion of “progressive politics for a better world.”
The British Foreign and Commonwealth minister with responsibility for Central America, Baroness Kinnock, applauded Chinchilla’s election as the first female President of Costa Rica. Kinnock also praised Chinchilla for stating her continued support for the forward thinking approach by the previous government in working to combat climate change and said that the UK would continue to work with Costa Rica on this important issue in 2010.
Political views
Laura Chinchilla’s political platform emphasized anti-crime legislation in response to Costa Rica’s growing concerns over safety. She is also expected to give continuity to the current government’s pro-free trade policies. She is considered a social conservative. She opposes extending equal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. She supports maintaining the country’s prohibition of abortion under most circumstances.
On 28 November 2009, Chinchilla became Costa Rica’s only mainstream party candidate to participate and voice support for a march dubbed “March for Life and Family”. Organized by a coalition of church leaders, its stated mission conflated opposition to the legalization of abortion and granting recognition for civil unions to same-sex couples. Laura Chinchilla Miranda’s participation raised concerns among several Costa Rican civil and human rights leaders who have regarded the event as pandering to fundamentalism and homophobia. Chinchilla stated that the march was not “against any group”.
Views on secularism
She opposes any amendment of the constitution aimed at separation of church and state in Costa Rica. The constitution currently defines the Republic of Costa Rica as a Roman Catholic nation. Her position contrasts with that of former President Óscar Arias Sánchez, who supports establishing a secular state.
Views on contraception
Laura Chinchilla is against legalizing the morning after pill, which is banned in Costa Rica. Many pro-life supporters in Latin American countries oppose the morning after pill because they believe it to be an abortifacient. This position contradicts the World Health Organization’s (WHO) statement that emergency contraception cannot be an abortifacient, because it will not work in cases when the woman is already pregnant. However, this WHO statement is based on the unsettled definition of when pregnancy begins.
