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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — As Costa Rica’s future president solid his poll at a college within the capital, a younger lady stood on the sidewalk exterior shouting, “Harasser!”
She was surrounded and drowned out by Rodrigo Chaves’ supporters, however stood her floor, a purple handkerchief that learn, “For our proper to resolve” tied round her neck. Chaves ignored her if he seen in any respect.
The heckling was a public show of issues held by some Costa Rican girls in regards to the conservative economist who gained Sunday’s election and can take workplace Might 8.
In socially conservative Central America, Costa Rica has proven indicators of extra progressive tendencies in recent times. Abortion stays unlawful besides in instances the place the mom’s life or well being is in danger, however two years in the past it turned the primary nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
Chaves has drawn girls’s ire as a result of the World Financial institution discovered that he sexually harassed varied girls whereas he was employed there. In the end, he was sanctioned for misconduct, demoted and pushed out. He has frequently denied the allegations and misstated the actions taken in opposition to him.
That historical past was highlighted repeatedly by his opponent, Jose María Figueres, throughout a bruising two months between the primary spherical of voting and Sunday’s runoff.
Figueres, nevertheless, was seen because the face of a disliked political institution and was combating allegations of corruption, leaving Costa Ricans with two unappetizing selections.
Montserrat Sagot, a feminist and sociologist on the College of Costa Rica, stated she fearful in regards to the message despatched by Chaves’ election regardless of his report of harassment.
She famous that polling indicated that Chaves’ conduct towards girls was not related for 45% of individuals once they voted.
“Within the expertise of different international locations like america, electing an individual like Chaves or (Donald) Trump legitimizes sexual violence in opposition to girls,” Sagot stated.
Sagot additionally expressed concern that Chaves’ authorities may threaten progress made on girls’s rights.
“It’s very regarding that Chaves has stated that he’s going to overview the technical commonplace for abortion, the usual for in-vitro fertilization,” Sagot stated. “That’s worrisome as a result of they’re requirements which have been imposed by the Inter-American System of Human Rights and will trigger us issues earlier than the Inter-American Court docket.”
In a March 29 ballot carried out by the Heart for Political Analysis and Research on the College of Costa Rica, 34% of those that indicated they’d vote for Chaves have been girls, whereas 42% of these planning to vote for Figueres have been girls. The intention of male voters was the inverse, with way more saying they deliberate to vote for Chaves. The survey of 1,019 Costa Ricans was carried out through cellphone March 24, 25 and 28. It had a margin of error of plus or minus three proportion factors.
There has not been a breakdown by gender of Sunday’s voting outcomes.
Mayra Bonilla, a 33-year-old stylist exiting a grocery store Tuesday in San Jose, stated it was an “embarrassment” having a president accused of harassment. “You don’t really feel secure on the street as a result of they are saying every kind of vulgarities to you,” Bonilla stated. “We will’t stroll alone and now the harassers see that they are often president. This election made me actually unhappy.”
Chaves wouldn’t be the primary Costa Rican president to face such allegations.
Former two-term President Oscar Arias, a Nobel peace laureate, was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of girls in 2019. Arias denied the allegations. In 2020, two girls withdrew their complaints with out explaining why.
Chaves has brushed the allegations apart as cultural misunderstandings. At a information convention Monday, he stated he wouldn’t talk about the instances additional.
The World Financial institution’s administrative tribunal final yr famous that an inside investigation discovered that from 2008 to 2013, Chaves leered at, made unwelcome feedback about bodily look, repeated sexual innuendo and made unwelcome sexual advances towards a number of financial institution workers. These particulars have been repeated by the financial institution’s human sources division in a letter to Chaves, nevertheless it determined to sanction him for misconduct slightly than sexual harassment.
“The info of the current case point out that (Chaves’) conduct was sexual in nature and that he knew or ought to have identified that his conduct was unwelcome,” the tribunal wrote. The tribunal additionally famous that within the proceedings, the financial institution’s present vice chairman for human sources stated in testimony “that the undisputed info legally quantity to sexual harassment.”
Chaves has referred to as for unity after the election and expressed a need to deal with corruption and inequality. He acknowledged Monday that a lot of his assist had come from individuals of few sources and he has stated a high precedence is reducing the price of dwelling, focusing on electrical energy and gasoline. He additionally needs to skinny authorities forms to advertise job creation.
He solid himself as an outsider, regardless of having served as finance minister for six months within the outgoing authorities of Carlos Alvarado. His comparatively new Social Democratic Progress Celebration had by no means gained public workplace and he’s keen on reminding individuals that he’s the son of a bodyguard for former President José Figueres Ferrer, the daddy of the person he defeated Sunday.
To this point, Chaves has struck a extra conciliatory tone than the combative one he displayed in the course of the marketing campaign.
Political analyst Francisco Barahona stated that’s mandatory, noting that Chaves’ social gathering will management solely 10 of the 57 seats within the new congress.
“This month he has to have success with the opposition events and attempt to honor a couple of marketing campaign promise,” Barahona stated. The problem might be overcoming the slightly authoritarian character he confirmed in the course of the marketing campaign to discover a solution to negotiate with not solely the political opposition however with the technocrats he’s putting in his cupboard, Barahona added.
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