Costa Rica
In Latin America, the Jarl Hjalmarsson Foundation cooperates with the Unión de Partidos Latinoamericanos (UPLA) – a cooperation organization for center-right parties in Latin America and a member of the International Democrat Union (IDU).
Population: 4.6 million (2011 estimate)
Area: 51 100 km2
GDP: 51,55 billion dollar (2010 estimate)
GDP per capita: 11 400 $ (2010 estimate)
Rate of Growth: 4 % (2010 estimate)
Head of state and head of government: Laura Chinchilla Miranda
Costa Rica is a Latin American success story. The country is a stable democracy. It has ratified the main conventions on human rights and there are no obvious problems with their implementation. The constitution ascertains freedom of speech and freedom of press and there are public and private newspapers as well as television and radio channels. The constitution also grants the freedom of association.
In May 2008, the Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Unasur) was founded. It is a union of the South American nations modelled on the EU. The union already has twelve member states, though its function is, as of yet, mostly symbolic.
The members of parliament are elected in provincial proportional elections and their mandate lasts four years. As of May 2010, Laura Chinchilla Miranda is the head of state as well as head of government, due to her 46.7 percent share of the vote in the presidential election. The largest party is Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN). The Jarl Hjalmarsson Foundation cooperates with Partido Integracion Nacional (PIN). PIN presently enjoys observer status in UPLA and it is not represented in the Costa Rican parliament.
