Johnny Araya

On Wednesday, ruling National Liberation Party presidential candidate Johnny Araya bowed out of the campaign leading up to an April 6 runoff. In so doing, he became the first presidential candidate in Costa Rica's history to make it to a second round only to end his campaign before the vote. Here's his concession speech.

At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, the National Liberation Party's Johnny Araya made history by becoming the first presidential candidate to drop out of a presidential runoff race in Costa Rica.

Opposition presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solís has a commanding lead in the polls over ruling party candidate Johnny Araya, according to the latest national poll published by the newspaper Semanario Universidad Tuesday night.

The president of Costa Rica's Central Bank warned Johnny Araya’s economic team Tuesday after the National Liberation Party blamed the rival Citizen Action Party's possible victory at the polls on April 6 for recent volatility in the Costa Rican currency, the colón.

See where Citizen Action Party candidate Luis Guillermo Solís headed to court votes and what organization gave its blessing to ruling party candidate Johnny Araya.

In December, the advocacy group Environmental Network Alliance hoped to bring green issues to the forefront of Costa Rica's presidential debates by scheduling an environmental forum for candidates. Only two of 13 candidates – Luis Guillermo Solís and José María Villalta – showed up.

Johnny Araya never fails to surprise me. Like most Costa Ricans, about a year ago I thought it inevitable that he would become President Laura Chinchilla’s successor, and that the opposition had little or no chance of beating him. But sometimes politics is unpredictable.

Didn’t keep up with the runoff campaign this week? Don’t worry, we did. Here's a rundown.

Last week, ruling party presidential candidate Johnny Araya tried to claim the mantle of family values, accusing opposition candidate Luis Guillermo Solís of having a different position than that of his own Citizen Action Party. While the abortion question could prove combustible in Costa Rica, Araya is not well positioned to strike the match.

National Liberation Party presidential candidate Johnny Araya has been fuming over a request for information by Costa Rica's Tax Administration that was leaked to local media this week. Araya says the move was calculated to hurt his chances at the polls in an April runoff.