Peace Candidate Arias Claims Victory in Costa Rican Election; Calderon Concedes

Peace candidate Oscar Arias claimed victory in Costa Rica’s presidential vote Sunday, ending an election campaign that reflected growing hostility to neighboring Marxist-led Nicaragua.

Incomplete returns gave Arias, candidate of the National Liberation Party, a commanding lead over Rafael Angel Calderon of the Social Christian Unity Party. Arias claimed victory shortly before 11 p.m. and Calderon conceded minutes later.

By late Sunday, with 20% of precincts reporting, Arias had about 136,000 votes, or 54% of the ballots cast, to about 113,000, or 43%, for Calderon.

The rest of the votes were dispersed among four minor parties. In Costa Rican elections, a plurality of 40% is enough to win. Television projections gave Arias more than half the vote.

Arias, an attorney who at 44 will be the country’s youngest president, will succeed Luis Alberto Monge, also a member of the National Liberation Party, when Monge’s four-year term ends in May.

According to pollsters, Arias picked up strength in recent weeks mainly by overcoming intraparty squabbles and emphasizing peace with Costa Rica’s neighbors, although he asserted that an “expansionist” Nicaragua is a threat to Costa Rica’s stability.

Calderon, 36, was more bellicose toward the Sandinista regime in Managua. That stance, along with his offer of more clear-cut changes in domestic policies, may have unnerved Costa Rica’s middle-of-the road voters.

The United States, which aids rightist rebels fighting the Sandinista government, has long campaigned here for a tough stand against Nicaragua.

“We don’t want to be involved in foreign wars,” Arias said in an interview with The Times.

His campaign jingle included the phrase “peace is our field.” Costa Rica has no army, relying on a civil guard and international good will to secure its borders.

Arias was less than clear about whether he thinks that the United States should continue to help the anti-Sandinista rebels.

He said that he favors the aid if it is used to press the Sandinistas to negotiate with opposition elements, but he added that such pressure has not succeeded. Arias pledged to restrict anti-Sandinista rebels operating from Costa Rican territory.

“We don’t want our land, liberty or hospitality used (by the rebels),” he declared during a campaign press conference.

Observers here believe that Arias will try to maintain Monge’s delicate balancing act between outright hostility to Nicaragua and maintaining the country’s traditional neutrality, which Arias defines as non-interference in the affairs of its neighbors.

“We reaffirm our belief in neutrality,” he said.

Arias, who has served in several ministries in past National Liberation governments, said he favors continuation of the multilateral Contadora negotiations to settle differences with Nicaragua.

Simmering unhappiness with Nicaragua erupted into full-blown public resentment last spring when two members of Costa Rica’s Rural Guard, a small police force, were killed during a border raid by Nicaraguan troops. Soon afterward, Costa Rica withdrew its ambassador from Managua and has not replaced him.

Irate Costa Rican rightists tore down a plaque with the seal of Nicaragua that hung over the Nicaraguan Embassy building here and recently pelted pro-Sandinista peace marchers with rocks.

Polls have shown that a large majority of Costa Ricans are critical of the Sandinista regime. They have also shown that Costa Ricans are opposed to doing anything directly to topple the Sandinistas. That attitude led both main presidential candidates to tone down any talk of confrontation with Managua.

Monge’s government authorized the United States to train a 700-member counterterrorism force as part of the Rural Guard. The training raised fears that Costa Rica might be re-establishing an army, about 40 years after the military was abolished here.

Arias said he will maintain the force intact.

The other big issue of the campaign was Costa Rica’s struggling economy.

During many years in power, Arias’ party has nurtured an extensive welfare state. Arias has pledged to control public spending, but he also promised to create 100,000 new jobs and construct 80,000 houses during his term. He also has promised not to cut government jobs.

Arias said he will seek easier terms for repayment of Costa Rica’s foreign debt.

Calderon’s defeat may spell the end of his presidential aspirations. He lost to Monge in 1982.