General elections were held in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

on 2 February 1986.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p155

Óscar Arias Óscar Arias Sánchez (; born 13 September 1940 in Heredia, Costa Rica) is a Costa Rican activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He was President of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2010. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 ...

of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 82%.Nohlen, p157 Costa Rica was under a strong

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

at the time. The country was undergoing military tensions with neighboring

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

due to the recently happened

Sandinista Revolution The Nicaraguan Revolution ( es, Revolución Nicaragüense or Revolución Popular Sandinista, link=no) encompassed the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Fr ...

and Nicaragua's dictator

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...

's fighting of the right-wing

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...

rebel guerilla in its southern border disregarding the official limits and confronting Costa Rica's police and security forces. Such skirmishes left one policeman's death and several wounded and both countries at the edge of war. Whilst some people blamed former president

Rodrigo Carazo Rodrigo José Ramón Francisco de Jesús Carazo Odio (27 December 1926 – 9 December 2009) served as President of Costa Rica from 8 May 1978 to 8 May 1982. Early life Carazo was born in Cartago. Before serving as president, he was the Dir ...

for allowing the

FSLN The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...

to operate in the Costa Rican northern territory against then dictator Anastasio Somoza, others resented President

Luis Alberto Monge Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez (December 29, 1925 – November 29, 2016) was the President of Costa Rica from 1982 to 1986. He also served as Costa Rica's first Ambassador to Israel from 1963 until 1966. Biography Early and personal life Monge ...

's hawkish behavior toward Sandinista Nicaragua and his support of the Contras. Former minister and deputy

Oscar Arias Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

faced former

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Carlos Manuel Castillo in

closed primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

. Castillo had the support of PLN's traditional leadership including former presidents and party's founders

José Figueres Ferrer José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer (25 September 1906 – 8 June 1990) served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. During his first term in office he abolished the country's army, nationa ...

Daniel Oduber Quirós Porfirio Ricardo José Luis Daniel Oduber Quirós (August 25, 1921 – October 13, 1991) was a Costa Rican politician, lawyer, philosopher, poet, and essayist. He served as the President of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978. He is credited with the c ...

and

. Arias was seen as a young, alternative candidate and the "underdog" in the election, but managed to earn the majority of votes and popular support. On the other side of the two-party system former Foreign Minister (under Carazo's administration)

Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (born 14 March 1949) was President of Costa Rica from 1990 to 1994. He was the presidential candidate of the Social Christian Unity Party for the national elections held in February 2010, but resigned his candida ...

, son of historical leader of

Calderonismo Calderonism or ''Calderonismo'' is a political and ideological doctrine of Costa Rica, which emerged in the 1940s under the leadership of caudillo Dr. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, before, during and after he was president with his National Rep ...

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (March 8, 1900 – June 9, 1970) was a Costa Rican medical doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944. Early life Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was born on 8 March 1900 in San José. In his ...

, was nominated by the

Social Christian Unity Party The Social Christian Unity Party ( es, Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica. PUSC considers itself a Christian-democratic party and, as such, is a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of Americ ...

, then main opposition force. This was Calderón's second attempt to win the Presidency. During the campaign the topic of peace was central. Calderón tried to present himself as a hawk who felt no quarrels in facing Nicaragua militarily. Arias on the contrary tried to show himself as a man of peace and negotiator who would pacified the region. His slogan was "Paz para mi gente" (Peace for my People). In fact, some analysts also saw Arias' position as a strong criticism of Monge, of his own party, and his hardline position. Monge and Arias would be political enemies ever since. PLN campaign also focused in showing Calderón as a man of war and remembering old historical periods, blaming Calderonism for the 1948 Civil War and the 1955

Somoza The Somoza family ( es, Familia Somoza) is a former political family that ruled Nicaragua for forty-three years from 1936 to 1979. Their family dictatorship was founded by Anastasio Somoza García and was continued by his two sons Luis Somoza D ...

-endorsed Calderonistas' invasion attempt. The party even went so far as to show Calderón in a cartoon as a spoil kid ready for war wearing the clothing of Quico, a popular character from ''

El Chavo del Ocho ''El Chavo'' (English: ''The Kid''); — also known as ''El Chavo del Ocho'' (English: ''The Kid from number Eight'') during its earliest episodes —, is a Mexico, Mexican television sitcom created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, produced by Tele ...

''.

Results

President

The People's Alliance was a coalition of the People's Vanguard Party and the Broad Democratic Front.

By province

Parliament

By province

Local governments

References

{{Costa Rican elections

Costa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Elections in Costa Rica