Costa Rican general election, 1962

Last updated
Costa Rican general election, 1962
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←  1958 4 February 1962 1966  →
Turnout 80%

  Francisco J. Orlich cropped.jpg Calderon Guardia 1940 cropped.jpg Otilio Ulate Blanco cropped.jpg
Nominee Francisco Orlich Rafael Calderón Otilio Ulate
Party National Liberation National Republican National Union
Home state Alajuela San José San José
Popular vote 192,850 135,533 51,740
Percentage 50% 35.3% 13.5%

Resultados electorales provinciales 1962.png

In green provinces won by Orlich, blue by Calderón
President before election

Mario Echandi
National Union

Elected President

Francisco Orlich
National Liberation

Costa Rica
Coat of arms of Costa Rica.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Costa Rica

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 4 February 1962. [1] Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 80.9%. [2]

Costa Rica country in Central America

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers. An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich President of Costa Rica

Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich is 34th President of Costa Rica from 1962 to 1966. His grandfather on the Orlich side and his mother came to Costa Rica from the town of Punat on the island of Krk, Croatia. His villa in Punat is named "Villa Costarica".

National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) political party

The National Liberation Party, nicknamed the verdiblancos, is a political party in Costa Rica. The party is a member of the Socialist International.

Contents

Background

During Mario Echandi’s presidency Rafael Angel Calderón, his family and supporters in exile, were allowed to return and a general amnesty was called for everyone involved in the still recent Civil War of 1948. [3] Calderón was elected Congressman in the 1958 election. But meanwhile in the past election the National Liberation Party was split due to the separation of the “Rossist” faction in this election Calderon’s candidacy unified PLN and other political allies into a strong anti-Calderonist ballot. [3]

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia President of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia was a Costa Rican doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944.

The Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history. It lasted for 44 days, during which approximately 2,000 people are believed to have died. The conflict was precipitated by the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the presidential elections held in February, alleging that the triumph of opposition candidate Otilio Ulate had been achieved by fraud.

Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica

The Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica. The national congress building is located in the city capital, San José, specifically in El Carmen District in San José Canton.

Both former presidents Otilio Ulate from National Union and Calderón himself from National Republican became candidates. PLN’s candidate was, as in 1958, Francisco Orlich, one of the party’s founder, commander of one of the fronts during the civil war and Figueres’ close friend. [3]

President of Costa Rica head of state and head of government of Costa Rica

The President of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The President is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two Vice presidents are elected in the same ticket with the president. The president appoints the Council of Ministers. Due to the abolition of the military of Costa Rica in 1948, the president is not a Commander-in-chief, unlike the norm in most other countries, although the Constitution does describe him as commander in chief of the civil defense public forces.

National Union Party (Costa Rica)

The National Union Party is the name of several liberal conservative parties in Costa Rica, generally located right-to-center in the political spectrum.

National Republican Party (Costa Rica)

The National Republican Party was a political party in Costa Rica.

A fourth small left-wing party named Popular Democratic Action led by socialist thinker Enrique Obregón also took part in the election nominating Obregon. [3] Communism was illegal according to the Constitution and Marxist Parties were not allowed, but Obregon’s party was officially socialist so the prohibition was not endorsed. Even so, Obregón did had the support of the traditional leadership and militancy of the (outlawed) Communist Party. [3]

Popular Democratic Action was a political party in Costa Rica, founded in 1962 by left-wing members of the National Liberation Party. Prominent founders were Enrique Obregón Valverde, Marcial Aguiluz Orellana and Julio Sunol. The party received some support from the then-illegal communist party. The party won two seats in the elections that year, although Valverde received less than 1% of the vote in the presidential election. Sunol later left the party.

Constitution of Costa Rica

The Constitution of Costa Rica is the supreme law of Costa Rica. At the end of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, José Figueres Ferrer oversaw the Costa Rican Constitutional Assembly, which drafted the document. It was approved on 1949 November 7. Several older constitutions had been in effect starting from 1812, with the most recent former constitution ratified in 1871. The Costa Rican Constitution is remarkable in that it abolished the Costa Rican military, making it the first nation to do so by law. Another unusual clause include an amendment asserting the right to live in a healthy natural environment.

Marxism economic and sociopolitical worldview based on the works of Karl Marx

Marxism is a theory and method of working class self-emancipation. As a theory, it relies on a method of socioeconomic analysis that views class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and takes a dialectical view of social transformation. It originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Campaign

All parties promised land reform. Calderon’s publicity was particular in saying “Yesterday social reform, today land reform” taking advantage of the socialist reforms during his presidency. [3] As the Cuban Revolution was recent the anti-Communist speech was common. All main parties accused each other of having links with Communism; PLN because of its socialist ideology (social democracy) and Figueres alleged friendship with Fidel Castro and Calderón because of his previous alliance with the Communists in the 1940s. [3] The far-right anti-Communist group Free Costa Rica Movement paid for a strong anti-Communist propaganda, especially against Popular Democratic Action. [3]

Land reform changes to land ownership

Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural land. Land reform can, therefore, refer to transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful, such as from a relatively small number of wealthy owners with extensive land holdings to individual ownership by those who work the land. Such transfers of ownership may be with or without compensation; compensation may vary from token amounts to the full value of the land.

Cuban Revolution revolution in Cuba culminating in 1959

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro's revolutionary 26th of July Movement and its allies against the authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. The revolution began in July 1953, and continued sporadically until the rebels finally ousted Batista on 31 December 1958, replacing his government with a revolutionary socialist state. 26 July 1959 is celebrated in Cuba as the Day of the Revolution. The 26th of July Movement later reformed along communist lines, becoming the Communist Party in October 1965.

Communism socialist political movement and ideology

In political and social sciences, communism is the philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.

Results

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich National Liberation Party 192,85050.3
Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia National Republican Party 135,53335.3
Otilio Ulate Blanco National Union Party 51,74013.5
Enrique Obregón Valverde Popular Democratic Action 3,3390.9
Invalid/blank votes7,944-
Total391,406100
Source: Nohlen
Popular Vote
National Liberation
 
50.3%
National Republican
 
35.3%
National Union
 
13.5%
Popular Dem. Action
 
0.9%

Parliament

PartyVotes%Seats+/-
National Liberation Party 184,13548.929+9
National Republican Party 126,24933.518+8
National Union Party 50,02113.38-2
Popular Democratic Action 9,2562.52New
Partido Acción Solidarista3,3580.90New
Partido Alajuelense1,6980.50New
Movemento Depuración Nacional1,1920.30New
Unión Guanacasta Independiente9030.20New
Partido Renovación Nacional1250.00New
Invalid/blank votes14,563---
Total391,50010057+12
Source: Nohlen
Popular Vote
National Liberation
 
48.9%
National Republican
 
33.5%
National Union
 
13.3%
Popular Dem. Action
 
2.5%
Other
 
1.9%
Seats
National Liberation
 
50.8%
National Republican
 
31.5%
National Union
 
14.1%
Popular Dem. Action
 
3.5%

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1994 Costa Rican general election

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The Reform State or Reformist State is a period in Costa Rican history characterized by the change in political and economic paradigm switching from the uncontrolled capitalism and laissez faire of the Liberal State into a more economically progressive Welfare State. The period ranges from approximately 1940 starting with the presidency of social reformer Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia and ends around the 1980s with the first neoliberal and Washington Consensus reforms that begun after the government of Luis Alberto Monge.

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ↑ Nohlen, p156
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hernández Naranjo, Gerardo. "Reseña de las elecciones presidenciales de 1962" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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