The FINANCIAL -- MEXICO. Laura Chinchilla Miranda, a female candidate from the leftist ruling National Liberation Party, is set to become the first woman president of Costa Rica.

According to preliminary results, she garnered some 47% of the vote and her closest contenders left-centrist Otton Solis and conservative Otto Guevara have already acknowledged defeat, congratulating the former vice president on victory.

Laura Chinchilla, 50, is a strong supporter of the incumbent President Oscar Arias, and has vowed to continue his democratic course, focusing on solving economic problems in the country.

During her election campaign she pledged to fight poverty and ensure the protection of women's rights.

Chinchilla started her political career in 1994, when she was appointed deputy security minister and later security minister of Costa Rica. She was then the country's vice-president and justice minister.

Costa Rica is widely considered the most democratic and stable country in Latin America. In 1948 it became the first country in the world to abolish its armed forces.

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