INSIDE | COMMENTARY
Will or Won't He Is The Question Of A Figueres Bid For The Presidency

Though he has yet to confirm if he will be running for the party nomination, former president José María Figueres Olsen is acting as if he were in the race, naming Carlos Dengo, grandson of Jorge Manuel Dengo, as his representative before the Partido Liberacion Nacional assembly.

The PLN has chosen April 2013 to hold its leadership convention and though Figueres is not in the race - so he keeps telling - he doesn't want to miss out in case he is not in the country, a likely possibility for he resides in Switzerland and his presidency of the President of the Carbon War Room that keeps him trotting the globe.

Dengo's function is to take the place of the former president in his absence should his obligations keep him away from Costa Rica.

Figueres could be challenged Johnny Araya (mayor of San José) and Rodrigo Arias (former ministro de la Presidencia and brother to two time president and Nobel prize winner, Oscar) and others for the party leadership. Or he may not.


Declared candidates: Johnny Araya (left), Fernando Berrocal (centre) & Rodrigo Arias (right)

The former president has bee fueling speculation of will or won't he, publicly saying he won't, but then publicly presenting his plan for the country - which in reality was nothing more than a call to the public for answers - and the unexpected showing up at the PLN meeting at the Cariari hotel over the weekend and the naming of Dengo.

Figueres had been absent from Costa Rica for more than seven years following allegations of impropriety over a consulting contract involving ALCATEL and ICE, the state institution founded by Jorge Manuel Dengo, who was also the country's first vice-president in the first Arias administration (1986-1990).

Jorge Manuel Dengo died this year (January 23) at the age of 93.