Following a Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Costa Rica Elects Its Next President

News reports from Costa Rica suggest that Carlos Alvarado Quesada (PAC), a 38-year-old former labor minister and a novelist, will be elected as the 48th President of Costa Rica with approximately 61 percent of the votes. He appears to have defeated his opponent, Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz (PRN), a former television journalist and an evangelical Christian singer who campaigned on his strong opposition to same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage became a key electoral issue in Costa Rica because the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (which has its seat in the capital of Costa Rica) ruled in January 2018 that parties to the American Convention on Human Rights (including Costa Rica) must recognize same-sex marriage.  In the Americas, same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the United States, and Uruguay. It is also legal in some Mexican states, but under Mexican law all states of Mexico must recognize the validity of those marriages even if the state itself does not yet perform same-sex marriage. The new ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is expected to extend same-sex marriage throughout other countries in the Americas.

The President of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The current President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís, was ineligible to run for a second term. (Under Costa Rican law as we understand it, an incumbent president must wait at least eight years before running to be President again.)

Click here for the decision (in Spanish) of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on same-sex marriage.

Hat tip to rw.

(mew)