General elections were held in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on 6 February 1966.

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 ex ...

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

José Joaquín Trejos Fernández José Joaquín Antonio Trejos Fernández (18 April 1916 10 February 2010) was 35th President of Costa Rica from 1966 to 1970. Trejos was a professor of economics. He was liberal. During Mario Echandi's administration he was part of Costa Rica's ...

of the National Unification Party narrowly won the presidential election, whilst the National Liberation Party won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81%.Nohlen, p156 These were very divisive elections as they had only two candidates. On one hand the government party PLN nominated the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

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 ...

, whilst all the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

opposition joined forces and former enemies Rafael Calderón and his

National Republican Party The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...

( Social Christian) merged with

Otilio Ulate Luis Rafael de la Trinidad Otilio Ulate Blanco (August 25, 1891 – October 10, 1973) served as President of Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north ...

’s National Union (

Liberal-Conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

) in the National Unification Party. Calderón and Ulate were enemies during the 1948 Civil War but put aside their differences and they agree that none of them will be candidate. The National Unification Party look forward a “neutral” candidate that could unified the opposition and

college professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

José Joaquín Trejos José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''J ...

was selected. Trejos had never hold a public office before.

Left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

opposition was outlawed as the Legislative Assembly made effective the article 98 of Costa Rica's Constitution at the time that forbid Communist parties, making illegal the only party at the left of PLN, the Popular Democratic Action (PADA) led by

Manuel Mora Manuel Mora Valverde (27 August 1909 – 29 December 1994) was a communist and labor leader in Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbea ...

. The campaign was particularly ideological, as the two candidates were basically encompassing the only Right-Left options and were defenders of two very different ideologies; Oduber (and PLN) abide to

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...

and Trejos was

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. The debate centered on both opposing philosophies; Trejos accused PLN of

statism In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation ...

and been smothering the

private enterprise A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

, whilst Oduber accused Trejos of being supported by the richest of the rich and trying to bring down Costa Rica's

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

and

labor laws Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...

. In one of the most hard-fought elections in Costa Rica's history, Trejos won by a small difference of around 2000 votes (one of Costa Rica's slightest differences between two candidates), though PLN kept its parliamentary majority (thus many of Trejos’ reforms did not passed).

Far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

Revolutionary Civic Union Party won two seats in Parliament. The results were accepted by all sides and many historians seem this election as the evidence that the dark times of civil unrest and conflict after electoral processes that end in the Civil War were put behind for good.

Results

President

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 high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Parliamentary elections in Costa Rica Presidential elections in Costa Rica