Liberation, Unity Name Would-Be Vice-Presidents

• Legislator Laura Chincilla, 46, and lawyer Kevin Casas, 37, will be the first and second vice-presidential candidates, respectively, for the National Liberation Party (PLN), rounding out the ticket headed by former President Oscar Arias. Chincilla is a politician, former Security Minister and police consultant, according to the daily Al Día, while Casas is an international consultant in political science who studied at Harvard.The candidates will be supported by the “momentum of their youth,” said Arias, who showed off his own youthful side by dancing at the Liberation assembly Sunday.• The Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) also announced young vice-presidential candidates last weekend, with legislator Lilliana Salas as first vice-president and Ramón Iglesias as second vicepresident. Salas, 41, is head of the Unity Party within the Legislative Assembly and a lawyer by trade. Iglesias Piza, 44, is also a lawyer and was executive president of the Pacific Port Authority (INCOP) and Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade, according to the daily La Nación.• The Libertarian Movement Party was also expected to announce its vice-presidential candidates last weekend, but leaders postponed the announcement until tomorrow. During last weekend’s assembly, presidential candidate Otto Guevara boasted the support of several former dedicated Unity Party supporters, including Rogelio Pardo, a former minister of health, as well as science and technology; former Central Bank president Jorge Guardia; and former Finance Minister Thelmo Vargas, La Nación reported.• Citizen Action Party (PAC) candidate Ottón Solís has asked legislator Epsy Campbell and doctor Guido Miranda to be the party’s vice-presidential candidates. However, both are still considering the offer. Miranda, 80, told the daily Al Día that, at his age, he must think things through very well.• Six legislators headed to Taiwan last weekend on an all-expense-paid trip to ask for financial and technical support in the construction of a new building for the Legislative Assembly, La Nación reported. The delegation was headed up by assembly president Gerardo González, who has asked the Executive Branch for approval for a $30 million loan for the new building, a request former Finance Minister Federico Carillo rejected (TT, Aug. 26, Sept. 2). González, a Unity legislator, will also ask for $150,000 to support the Forum of Legislative Presidents in December.