Costa Ricans will have the responsibility of electing their president for the period  of 2018-2022 in the election that will take place February 4, 2018 with a total of 13 candidates.

However, as it is usually the case, out of the 13 options only a handful have real possibilities of reaching the presidency, which is actually an improvement after many years of having only two big political parties with real possibilities, for the past few election periods other actors have come in the picture which makes things more interesting.

The 13 candidates include 12 men and 1 woman: Mario Redondo (PADC), Oscar López (PASE), Edgardo Araya (Frente Amplio), Juan Diego Castro (PIN), Antonio Alvarez Desanti (PLN), Sergio Mora (PNG), Fabricio Alvarado (PRN), Rodolfo Hernandez (PRSC), Carlos Alvarado (PAC), Jhon Vega (Partido de los Trabajadores), Rodolfo Piza (PUSC), Otto Guevara (ML), and Stephanie Campos (PRC).

In the middle of one of the biggest corruption scandals, El Cementazo, the election process has not warmed up and the majority of voters still don’t have a preferred candidate.

The lastest surveys have shown that the following candidates will be the front runners in this election process in Costa Rica:

Antonio Alvarez Desanti (PLN): The candidate of the National Liberation Party has maintained the first position in the intention of voter surveys. Business man, lawyer graduated from the University of Costa Rica and with a Master’s Degree in International Tax Law at Harvard University; politician, born in San José on July 6, 1958, he has served several years in congress, a he has also occupied the main chair in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Interior, and has long had presidential aspirations. He is married to Nuria Marín, a political expert and business woman, also a cancer survivor, and has two daughters Adriana and Andrea and a granddaughter, Isabella. His wife’s family has long rented out several buildings to the state, situation that has caused controversy. Alvarez has several businesses in agriculture, real estate and franchises such as Chuck E Cheese’s

Rodolfo Piza Rocafort (PUSC): Born August 12, 1958 he is a politician and lawyer, he is married and has three children, Marina, Rodolfo and Alejandro and grandchildren. He was the executive director for the Social Security Administration and was later named a substitute judge for the Supreme Court of Justice. As the candidate for the Social Christian Unity he has the responsibility of trying to relive a party that was strongly affected by previous corruption scandals.

Juan Diego Castro (PIN): Probably the most outspoken candidate; he was the choice for the National Integration Party to represent them in this election process; however in the past, Castro was associated with PLN and held positions in the government with this party. He was born June 19, 1955 and is a lawyer graduated from the University of Costa Rica. He was the Minister of Public Security between 1994-1997 during the administration of José María Figueres Olsen; he was also the Minister of Justice from 1996-1997.

Carlos Alvarado (PAC): The candidate of the Citizen Action Party, the party of the current president Luis Guillermo Solis, is a 37 year-old journalist and political scientist. He was the Labor Minister and one of the counselors for PAC in congress during the 2006-2010 period; consultant of the Institute of Development Studies in the UK and director of communication for the Luis Guillermo Solis campaign. He is married to Claudia Dobles and has one son.

In another series of articles we will go over the government plans for each of these candidates and their position in key topics.