The candidate for the governing centre-left party in Costa Rica's presidential elections, Carlos Alvarado, has won a surprise landslide victory.
Carlos Alvarado, of the ruling Citizen Action Party, smiles after casting his vote at a polling station in San Jose on 1 April 2018 during the country's run-off election. Photo: AFP
Costa Rica's electoral council made the announcement based on ballots from 91 percent of polling stations.
Mr Alvarado won 60 percent of the vote to his conservative opponent's 39 percent, the near-complete count shows.
His rival Fabricio Alvarado (no relation) has conceded defeat.
Carlos Alvarado, 38, is a former labour minister, ex journalist, novelist and sometime rock singer. He ran on a progressive platform under the slogan Elijo el futuro (I choose the future).
Fabricio Alvarado, 43, is an evangelical preacher, one-time TV journalist and Christian music singer. He was standing for the conservative National Restoration Party (PRN) and had vowed to defend "traditional values".
In the first round, Fabricio Alvarado secured the most votes, but missed the number needed to win outright.
That left him facing Carlos Alvarado in a second round vote.
Poll predictions put the candidates neck-and-neck in the weeks leading up to voting day.
What were the election issues?
Points of debate included fears about Costa Rica's national deficit and the unprecedented rise of its murder rate.
But the close-run contest pivoted on the debate over legalising same-sex marriage.
In January, the Inter-American Human Rights Court ruled that gay marriages should be recognised - a decision applied to all signatory nations of the American Convention on Human Rights.
Fabricio Alvarado strongly opposed the ruling. Carlos Alvarado backed it, and branded his opponent homophobic.
- BBC
