Costa Rica election: Fabricio Alvarado leads first round
February 5, 2018
Initial results have put evangelical politician Fabricio Alvarado in the lead in the first round of Costa Rica's presidential vote. The election was dominated by a debate on gay marriage in the Central American country.
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Costa Ricans voted in the first round of the country's presidential election on Sunday, which saw 13 candidates vying to succeed outgoing President Luis Guillermo Solis.
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Conservative Christian politician and TV anchor Fabricio Alvarado (pictured above) took the most votes, snagging 25.2 percent, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal said, citing initial results.
Carlos Alvarado (no relation) of the ruling left-leaning Citizens' Action Party came in second place with 21 percent.
He was followed closely by Antonio Alvarez Desanti, a banana entrepreneur and candidate for the National Liberation Party who took 18.9 percent. Rodolfo Piza of the Christian Social Unity was fourth with 16 percent.
Fabricio Alvarado and Carlos Alvarado will now face off in a runoff vote on April 1, as no candidate won 40 percent of the vote. Official results will be announced on Monday.
Gay marriage debate
Fabricio Alvarado launched to the top of the pack in opinion polls ahead of the vote after denouncing a ruling in January by the region's top human rights court.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is located in Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, urged Costa Rica to give equal civil marriage rights to lesbian and gay couples.
Fabricio Alvarado called the court's ruling an infringement on Costa Rica's sovereignty and a violation of its traditional values. He also said he would consider pulling the country out of the court.
His opponent in April's runoff, Carlos Alvarado, was the only major candidate to openly support gay marriage, picking up support from socially liberal voters.
The 3.3 million voters in Costa Rica are predominantly Roman Catholic, with many describing themselves as conservative.
The shift toward issue-based politics and the rise of political outsiders has come as a surprise for some in Costa Rica, which is known for traditionally centrist politics.
Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay already legally recognize such civil unions between gay couples. However, Costa Rica and other Central American countries have resisted the move.
rs/jm (AP, AFP, Reuters)
Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage
Ecuador became the latest country to allow same-sex marriage when its Constitutional Court ruled for two gay couples in June 2019. DW takes a look at some of the other countries that have taken the step.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA Wire/O. Messinger
2001, The Netherlands
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to permit same-sex marriages after the Dutch parliament voted for legalization in 2000. The mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, wedded the first four same-sex couples at midnight on April 1, 2001 when the legislation came into effect. The new law also allowed same-sex couples to adopt children.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/ANP/M. Antonisse
2003, Belgium
The Netherlands' neighbor, Belgium, followed the Dutch lead and legalized same-sex marriage two years later. The law gave same-sex partners many of the rights of their heterosexual counterparts. But unlike the Dutch, the Belgians did not initially allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The Belgian parliament passed a bill granting them that right three years later.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/J. Warnand
2010, Argentina
Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriages when its Senate voted 33 to 27 in favor of it in July 2010. Argentina thereby became the tenth country in the world to permit gay and lesbian marriages. The South American country was not the only one to do so in 2010. Earlier in the year, Portugal and Iceland also passed same-sex marriage legislation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/L. La Valle
2012, Denmark
Denmark's parliament overwhelmingly voted in favor of legalization in June 2012. The small Scandinavian country had made headlines before when it was the first country in the world to recognize civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples in 1989. Same-sex couples had also enjoyed the right to adopt children since 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/CITYPRESS 24/H. Lundquist
2013, New Zealand
New Zealand became the 15th country worldwide and the first Asia-Pacific country to allow gay and lesbian marriages in 2013. The first couples were married on August 19. Lynley Bendall (left) and Ally Wanik (right) were among them when they exchanged vows on board an Air New Zealand flight from Queenstown to Auckland. France legalized same-sex marriage the same year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/Air New Zealand
2015, Ireland
Ireland made headlines in May 2015 when it became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage through a referendum. Thousands of people celebrated in the streets of Dublin as the results came in showing almost two-thirds of voters opting for the measure.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/A. Crawley
2015, USA
The White House was alight in the colors of the rainbow flag on June 26, 2015. Earlier, the US Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the constitution guaranteed marriage equality, a verdict that paved the way for same-sex couples to be married across the country. The decision came 12 years after the Supreme Court ruled that laws criminalizing gay sex were unconstitutional.
Germany became the fifteenth European country to legalize gay and lesbian marriages in June 30, 2017. The bill passed by 393 to 226 in the Bundestag, with four abstentions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel voted against the bill, but paved the way for its passage when she said her party would be allowed to vote freely on the measure only days before the vote took place.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA Wire/O. Messinger
2017 - 2018, Australia
Following a postal survey which showed the majority of Australians were in favor of same-sex marriage, the country's parliament passed a law to legalize it in December 2017. As couples in Australia have to give authorities one month's notice of their nuptials, many of the first weddings took place just after midnight on January 9, 2018 - including that of Craig Burns and Luke Sullivan, pictured.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Hamilton
2019, Taiwan
In May 2019, the island state became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The government survived an attempt by conservative opposition to water down the bill. Gay couples are able to offically register their marriage from May 24 onwards. President Tsai Ing-wen called it "a big step towards true equality."
Image: dapd
2019, Ecuador
The Andean state's top court ruled 5-4 to allow two gay couples to marry in June. The decision followed a ruling from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights affirming that countries should allow same-sex couples the right to marry.