Otto Guevara : First elected to congress as the sole representative for the Movimiento Libertario in 1998, Guevara earned recognition as Costa Rica’s best legislator by the press every year of his first term. In 2002, Libertarian Movement, with Guevara as the presidential candidate, elected 6 members to Congress out of 57 seats, but few weeks later they lost a Congressman, declared independent. After a split within the party that saw a group of libertarian members leave, Guevara said his party was moving to be liberal and no libertarian. 2006 saw the Libertarian Movement Party again elect 6 members to congress, but they lost again other Congressman. As a presidential candidate in 2006, Guevara earned almost 10% of the vote. In 2009, Guevara is elected presidential candidate for third time. Reason interviews Costa Rica’s Libertarian revolutionary Does what ML does in Costa Rica have implications for libertarians in the United States? Well, given the electoral system you have here, a different strategy might be needed. I don’t see the major parties changing the winner-take-all, first-past-the-post voting system. So perhaps, as an America, I would explore something like Ron Paul’s strategy instead. The key for us was exposure, and if you don’t necessarily have your own candidates, then it’s important to incorporate certain people with a national profile, who can give your positions credibility. It’s also possible that Costa Rica could be a sort of a “pilot project.” It’s a small county, with around 4 million inhabitants, and a fairly socialistic past. Our example could provide you with a very clear cut “before and after,” in the same way people who support pension reform in the United States can point to some of the successes in the South. Then you can go to Congress and say “Listen, guys, this thing I’m proposing… they’ve done it there, so let’s look at how it went.”
Why would you not support a man with ideas to make the country better.