PHOTOS: President-elect Carlos Alvarado visits Casa Presidencial

President-elect Carlos Alvarado visited Casa Presidencial in the eastern San José district of Zapote this week, meeting with outgoing President Luis Guillermo Solís and presidential staffers.

Alvarado and his wife, Claudia Dobles, toured the presidential offices with Alvarado’s former boss – the president-elect once served in the Cabinet of President Solís – and First Lady Mercedes Peña.

The newly elected leader is in the midst of an abbreviated presidential transition. Because no one candidate reached 40 percent of the vote in Costa Rica’s first election on Feb. 4, Alvarado participated in a runoff against conservative candidate Fabricio Alvarado on April 1. The victor will take office on May 8 at the Plaza de la Democracia in downtown San José.

Alvarado addresses Casa Presidencial staff. AFP Photo / Ezequiel Becerra

From left to right, Costa Rican First Lady Mercedes Penas, President-elect Carlos Alvarado, President Luis Guillermo Solis and future First Lady Claudia Dobles meet in the Office of the President. AFP Photo / Ezequiel Becerra

Alvarado signs the guest book. AFP Photo / Ezequiel Becerra

Back in January, this is not an image pollsters thought we'd be seeing at Casa Presidencial in April 2018. AFP Photo / Ezequiel Becerra