Weekly Report - 06 August 2009 (WR-09-31)

COSTA RICA | Cabinet changes. Costa Rica's minister for the presidency, Rodrigo Arias, this week confirmed the resignations of the ministers of justice, treasury and labour (Viviana Martí­n, Guillermo Zúñiga and Francisco Morales, respectively). The three plan to run as legislative deputies for the ruling Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) and work on the campaign of Laura Chinchilla, the party's presidential candidate, ahead of the February 2010 elections. So far Zúñiga and Morales have been replaced by their deputies while Arias has yet to announce a replacement for Martí­n. The prospect of a Chinchilla victory remains on the cards: the latest survey by pollster Borge y Asociados published in the local media on 27 July put her on 46.5% support, well ahead of Ottón Solí­s, of the leftwing Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), who received just 9.5% backing.