Electing a woman to be your head of state isn’t that big a deal these days. The latest country to join a long list of states with women leaders is Costa Rica: in the presidential election conducted yesterday, the winner by a comfortable margin is Laura Chinchilla Miranda, the first woman to become head of state in this Central American republic. Chinchilla’s victory also vividly demonstrates democracy in action in a country that’s in a part of the world where such freedom of expression … [Read more...] about Twitter and Facebook part of Costa Rica election
Costa Rica
First report of Costa Rica quake on Twitter
Last Thursday January 8, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck Costa Rica in Central America. My wife Laura and I have a strong interest in Costa Rica as we have family there and, indeed, lived there during much of the 1980s. Thankfully, family there are safe and well, gracias a Dios. Not the case for everyone, sadly, as to date, 19 people have died with 23 officially missing. The government declared a state of emergency as property and infrastructure damage rose to over $100 … [Read more...] about First report of Costa Rica quake on Twitter
A little Latin flavour
A part of the world that’s not constantly front-of-mind for many people in the UK is Latin America. One country that’s an integral part of that region is Costa Rica, nowadays a popular holiday destination and a place I call a second home having lived there for much of the 1980s. It’s also my wife’s first home, something she focuses on with her blog. So it was a real pleasure to spend much of yesterday afternoon immersed in sights and sounds of Latin America at the 2008 Anglo Latin … [Read more...] about A little Latin flavour
Democracy in action
Yesterday, a new president of Costa Rica was sworn in during a televised ceremony that was a model of the democratic process that you take for granted in western countries but not at all in most of Latin America. There are multiple reasons why this interests me. First of all, I lived in Costa Rica for much of the 1980s and new president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias was also Costa Rica's president for much of the time when I was there. Now he's back again after a near … [Read more...] about Democracy in action