Costa Rica with no army, with excellent coffee (known worldwide), unbeatable beaches just elected Laura Chinchilla as the nation's first female president after campaigning in Central America's most stable nation.

"Today we are making history," said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president when she takes dutty on May 8^th; The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it.

Her 47% share of the vote was well beyond the 40 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

The new president wants economic recovery and said that “All projections indicate that we will grow between 3 and 4% this year. But this growth does not achieve the goals we want.”

Another goal is to lower violence, and she said that “Latin America has two very sad records: being the continent with the greatest inequality and the most violent, in the absence of war”.

From the other side, one of the presidents who congratulated her was, Jose Luis Zapatero, who transmitted his “most warmth congratulation” to Laura Chinchilla, according to a press release from last Monday.

The President of Spain assured to the new Costa Rican president that “she will always find the Spain government in the best disposition to continue having the privilege relations of cooperation and friendship that unit both of our countries and our people”.

From the other side, the closest contender, Ottón Solís of the Citizens Action Party (PAC, in Spanish), got 25 percent of the votes. He and the other main rival, Libertarian Otto Guevara, quickly conceded defeat. Guevara, congratulated Chinchilla as our president;. He won 21 percent of the votes

The happiest people, of course her supporters, took to the streets of San Jose, celebrating the victory with vehicles emblazoned with the green and white party’s flags up to the early hours of the next day.