COSTA RICA: Opposition presidential candidate Jose Maria Villalta rallies supporters in San Jose but trails in the polls

Record ID: 346883

  • Title: COSTA RICA: Opposition presidential candidate Jose Maria Villalta rallies supporters in San Jose but trails in the polls
  • Date: 25th January 2014
  • Summary: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (JANUARY 24, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF BROAD FRONT PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, JOSE MARIA VILLALTA, WITH FLAGS IN SAN JOSE CENTRAL PARK VILLALTA SUPPORTER WEARING A MASK VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS WATCHING PRE-RALLY CONCERT VILLALTA TALKING TO SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VILLALTA SUPPORTER, LISANDRO OBANDO, SAYING: "The corruption tha
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2014 12:00
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  • Location: Costa Rica
  • Country: Costa Rica
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA51EBO8R9BC601NSA80ESJ295E
  • Story Text: Opposition candidate, Jose Maria Villalta, rallied his supporters on Friday (January 24) as he trailed in the polls with one week until election day.
    Villalta represents the leftist Broad Front Party, which has never mounted a strong candidate before.
    He had surged to a high of 23 percent in December, but a recent CID-Gallup poll saw him cool to 20 percent. The ruling party candidate, Johnny Araya of the National Liberation Party, is favoured by 29 percent, up 27 percent from December.
    But thousands showed up for the rally, pledging their votes to the candidate.
    "The corruption that this country is going through is huge. That is, we can't continue living like this. We want to change. Why? Because it is the only alternative left to Costa Rican citizens," said San Jose resident Lisandro Obando.
    "I am voting for Jose Maria Villalta, for the Broad Front, because I want a change in this country. I vote for my daughters, because I want to work, because I want change and he has promised us change and I believe in Jose Maria," added another resident, Carmen Araya.
    Speaking late into the night, Villalta rallied the crowd.
    "Because we are angry, it offends us that there re more than 300,000 Costa Ricans that don't eat three meals a day, that there are a 1,100,000 inhabitants of this land that do not have their basic needs met, that there are hundreds of thousands of people that work from sun-up to sun-down and don't receive a decent income," he said.
    "We have to guarantee the fulfilment of the labour rights in our country, fair wages, the review of the lowest salaries of the most exploited workers," he added.
    Still, Araya remains short of the 40 percent needed to avoid a run-off election. If he wins, his would be the third consecutive Liberation government to rule Costa Rica since 2006.
    Growing dissatisfaction with alleged government corruption under President Laura Chinchilla's administration had helped fuel the rise of the Broad Front Party.
    Villalta opposes the country's free trade agreements and calls for more taxes on the wealthy and financial firms. Some analysts think he could win over undecided voters and pick up more steam in a second-round vote once candidates from smaller parties are eliminated.
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