Costa Rica's
First Woman
President Takes
Office
Laura Chinchilla
Miranda on
Saturday became
the first woman
to hold the
office of the
president in
Costa Rica,
taking the oath
of office in an
public ceremony
with thousands
of supporters on
hand.
See Photo
Journal for all
the photos of
the Chinchilla
inauguration
Before the was
sworn in,
Chinchilla took
the opportunity,
with her son and
husband at her
side, to shake
hands with
school children
as she made the
tour of the
stand, from end
to end, before
returning to
centre stage.
The new
president
accepted the
presidential
sash from
outgoing
president Oscar
Arias at
11:39am,
swearing to
uphold the
constitution.
The 51 year old
Chinchilla is
the first female
president in
Costa Rica,
following the
foot steps of
Violeta Chamorro
of Nicaragua and
Mireya Moscoso
of Panama.
Chinchilla is
expected to
continue the
Arias policy of
pro-free trade
and
international
business ties.
But, she could
have a tough
time meeting her
objective as her
party lacks an
absolute
majority in the
Legislative
Assembly.
Taking part in
the inauguration
were also
Panama's
president
Ricardo
Martinelli,
Mexico's
president Felipe
Calderon,
Nicaragua's
president Daniel
Ortega, El
Salvador's
president
Mauricio Funes,
Ecuador's
president Rafael
Correa and
Colombia's
president Alvaro
Uribe.
Spain's Prince
Felipe De
Bourbon was also
present.
A total of 56
nations were
represented by
ambassadors and
delegations at
the ceremony.
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