He’s back: Rodolfo Hernández returns to presidential race 24 hours after quitting

Costa Rican voters got whiplash Saturday afternoon as the Social Christian Unity Party’s (PUSC) presidential candidate, Rodolfo Hernández, said that’s he staying in the race barely 24 hours after announcing his resignation Thursday.

Hernández said he was retaking the reins of the PUSC’s presidential bid outside his home in Sabanilla de Montes de Oca, east of San José, after party supporters carrying signs reading, “Dr., Costa Rica needs you,” marched to his residence from the Fuente de la Hispanidad in San Pedro, reported the daily La Nación.

“I have gotten to know a Costa Rica that has felt more pain than I have in these last days, I’ve known the indifference and anxiety that exists in Costa Rica where some have thrown Costa Rica away and left the poor without money,” the doctor told supporters, according to the online Spanish-language daily CRHoy.com.

Hernández threw the PUSC into disarray Thursday when he released a statement saying he was stepping down just one day into the official 2014 election season. In his resignation statement, the doctor painted a picture of a campaign fraught with “backstabbing.”

In an interview with Telenoticias Channel 7 on Friday, PUSC campaign manager Humberto Vargas accused three top party leaders – Rolando Laclé, Gonzalo Fajardo and Jorge Guardia – of sparking internal clashes that led to the candidate’s brief departure.

CRHoy.com reported that the candidate would restart his campaign Tuesday.