After winning April’s presidential election on an anti-establishment platform in one of Latin America’s most robust democracies, 60-year-old economist Rodrigo Chaves takes office today in Costa Rica. It is his first-ever elected office.
Mr. Chaves surprised many when he made it to the runoff stage, and then quickly became the frontrunner in the head-to-head contest against former President José María Figueres. In the end, he beat Mr. Figures by 6 points. Turnout was low (57 percent, against an average of 64 percent), which many saw as indicative of a crisis facing the political system.
Mr. Chaves’ inexperience, coupled with...
