After discarding he would run for Presidency in the 2014 elections back in December  of last year and after being heavily questioned by reporters about his intentions, it seems Ex-President Jose Maria Figueres Olsen has changed his mind and would be announcing his candidacy in the upcoming weeks.

Sources inform that the announcement will be held on Tuesday June 26^th, following the participation of former president in the Rio +20 Summit.

The announcement of his candidacy for the elections of 2014 may come after the pressure to move the dates for the convention to select a PLN candidate, to an earlier time. This would force José María Figueres Olsen to confirm the speculations, although, he stated on his personal Facebook account that “The agenda is to work for Costa Rica, not for the interests of a particular group or for personal ambitions. It seems to me that’s not always clear”.

After 7 years of self-imposed exile, Figueres returned to Costa Rica last Christmas immersed in a whirlwind of speculation about his imminent political aspirations.

During a Press Conference held at “La Lucha” –his family’s ranch- sitting next to his mother Karen Olsen de Figueres and both of his children,  Figueres insisted that as a former president, his intentions were to help Laura Chinchilla in her administration so she can do an “excellent job” and to unite Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), the political party that took him to Office during the period between 1994-1998.

He then enjoyed some ‘tamales’ with the press in what, at the time, seemed to be an amicable PR move to invoke the holiday spirit and gain some ground after all the controversy surrounding accusations of improper payments and political influence in the Alcatel-ICE case.

Political rivals such as Johnny Araya and Antonio Álvarez Desanti from PLN are still unsure of Figueres intentions. Alvarez mentioned he had a meeting with the former president the last time in which he visited the country and did not say he would run for office, but did not deny that either.

Sources close to the ruling party, National Liberation (PLN), told newspaper El Pais that at least nine legislators who currently support candidate Rodrigo Arias Sánchez, brother of former president Oscar Arias Sanchez, would probably remove their adhesion to Arias, and would support Figueres if the announcement did come through after evaluating Figueres Olsen possible aspirations.

José María Villalta, a legislator from Frente Amplio stated this past Thursday “today we will see Figueres in his first 2014 campaign rally.”