PANAMA CITY, Panama – A white-haired conservative businessman was declared president just two hours after the polls closed in elections held here Sunday.

With a little more than 43 percent of the votes counted, Panama's Elections Tribunal surprised few by pronouncing Ricardo Martinelli, of the Democratic Change party, the victor.

Martinelli had been leading for a year in the polls over his opponent, Balbina Herrera of the ruling Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), by double digits since December.

Known as “El Loco,” Martinelli is the owner of Panama's Super99 supermarket chain and the former president of the Panama Canal Port Authority. Often considered uncharismatic, Martinelli earned his nickname after an e-mail was passed around alleging he suffers from bipolar disorder. After denying the allegations, his campaign launched a new slogan – “we crazies are the majority” – that quickly took hold among his supporters countrywide.

Martinelli has promised to build a metro system for the capital as well as lower food and electricity costs and improve security.

Master of the wave: Carlos Muñoz, 16, celebrates victory Saturday at Playa Hermosa after becoming the youngest surfer to win the National Surf Circuit finals.

Photo-illustration courtesy of Fabián Sánchez

Sixteen-year-old Carlos Muñoz carved out waves, history and a hat-trick at Costa Rica's National Surf Circuit finals on Saturday at central Pacific Playa Hermosa.

The youngster, from the nearby Pacific beach of Esterillos, grabbed the 2008-2009 Costa Rica National Surf Championship titles in the Open, Junior and Boys divisions to the wild applause of hundreds on the beach witnessing the event, called the Gran Final Terraza-Reef competition.

"I'm very happy, very proud for the people of Esterillos and for my family," said the youngest champion in the seven-year history of the Circuit, who also recently earned a No. 9 in the International Surfing Association (ISA) ranking at the World Junior Surfing Games in Ecuador.

"It wasn't in my mind to win the championship, until I got into the finals of this competition,” Muñoz said. “I just want to be an example for the rest of the kids who follow me."

Also making history was central Pacific Playa Jacó's Lisbeth Vindas, who won the Woman's National title again for the seventh time. She was battling against Nataly Bernold, who shocked everyone on the beach by falling out in the semifinals. "I was praying to win my title back, and I did," Vindas said.

Cedric Auffret, of Tamarindo, on the northern Pacific coast, also won back his Longboard crown.

The Gran Finals Terazza-Reef, sponsored by Coca Cola Zero, was a staging area for the ISA Billabong World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009, set for July 31 at the exact same at the beach at Hotel Terraza del Pacifico.

This year saw the debut of a new fiberboard podium and computerized scoring system, and featured some noteworthy audience members, including ISA Managing Director Stephanie Keith, who held meetings with members of the Surf Federation of Costa Rica during the contest.

However, most eyes were on the athletes during the event, which climaxed with the surprise win by Muñoz, who topped the rankings favorite Jason Torres, who lost in the semifinals.

Two more likely cases of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus have been identified in Costa Rica, bringing the total probable cases to four.

One of the four cases was confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), following testing done in Atlanta, Georgia. The three remaining await test results in the coming week.

As the total number of suspected cases worldwide climbs to 658 and the death toll tops 100, countries continue to follow emergency action plans to keep the virus contained.

“We are prepared for the worst,” said Health Minister María Luisa Avila to various media groups at a press lunch on Saturday. “But, at the same time, we want to make sure it doesn't become worse.”

What is putting some health officials on edge is the fact that one of the most recent cases involves a 53-year-old man who hadn't traveled from Mexico nor did he have any known contact with someone who had recently been to Mexico. He is in critical condition at an unnamed hospital with other medical conditions, said Avila.

The health minister also indicated that the Pan American Health Organization sent Costa Rica 10,000 additional doses of antiviral medication, adding to the roughly 7,000 already here.

The virus, which has similar symptoms to a typical flu (body aches, high temperature, stuffy nose), seems to target young to middle-aged individuals. According to statistics from Costa Rica's Health Ministry, individuals between the ages 20 to 29 have the highest rate of infection at 54 nationwide, followed by the 30 to 39 age group, which has had 43 cases thus far.

The Health Ministry is advising individuals to wash their hands and to report to local medical centers if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms.

See the Top Story for more on Costa Rica's efforts to prevent a flu outbreak.

Offices emptied on Friday and storeowners sealed their shops as Costa Rica celebrated its 96th Labor Day.

Rather than stay home and rest or escape to the beaches, hundreds of Ticos flooded the streets of San José in celebration of the country's workers.

Waving flags, dancing alongside marching bands and calling on government officials to recognize the plight of workers, they made their way down Avenida 2, a major artery in the heart of the city.

“It's a day for me. It's a day for all workers. And it's a day for all Costa Ricans,” said Rosemarie Rodríguez, who held the corner of an orange and white banner as she waited for the parade to begin. “It's a day to tell the government that the working class is alive and we are reclaiming our rights.”

Marchers used this year's celebration as a platform to speak out against the Shield Plan, Costa Rica's economic stimulus package, which they say places the country's financial burdens on the back of its workers.

But the concerns of various participants varied widely as some criticized capitalism and free trade, others called for reforms within the state's monopolies and still others carried signs appealing for higher pay.

“What we are looking for is the opportunity to go out in the streets and express ourselves as the workers we are,” said Freddy Jiménez, standing against the backdrop of yellow-shirted education workers, waving large blue and white flags. “Normally, it's a peaceful protest, but we give our ideas about the things we don't like about what the government is doing.”

Combined with lively music, street vendors and other cultural events, the day was – if nothing else – “ una fiesta para los trabajadores ” (a holiday or party for the workers) as one speaker put it.

Entering into his last year in office, President Oscar Arias paused for an evening to reflect on his administration's accomplishments – and achievements to come – during his annual speech Friday to the Legislative Assembly.

Delivered each year on Labor Day, which Costa Rica celebrates May 1, Arias centered this year's address on the successes of congress and the executive branch in a year marred by a global recession, natural disasters and increased drug trafficking in Central America.

“This was a year of exceptional efforts, in which … the administration had to learn how to deal with many types of adversities, in which we had to separate the wants from the essentials and make difficult decisions,” Arias said to a roomful of legislators and invited guests.

Arias highlighted achievements in education in which some teachers saw as much as a 40 percent wage raise and in which language learning programs were expanded. He spoke on the decreases in cases of malaria and in infant mortality. He praised the transit law and the new train service proposed to run between San José and Heredia, north of the capital, as an improvement in the lives of commuters. And he touched on the work the government has done to improve Costa Rica's economic situation such as introducing reforms to benefit producers and improving trade opportunities with the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

But he also said his work is not over.

“We will work without rest until the last day to reach the goals we have set and take care of the needs of the people of Costa Rica,” said Arias, whose term ends in May 2010. With the final chapter of the “book of this administration” remaining, Arias said, “I hope that it is a worthy epilogue in our history.”

Opposition leaders were quick to criticize Arias and his address.

“He came to tell lies,” Congressman Alberto Salom, leader of the left-leaning Citizen Action Party, told the daily La Nación, pointing to a “fraudulent” response to the Jan. 8 earthquake that killed as many as 23 people and displaced hundreds of others.

Carlos Gutiérrez, legislator and leader of the Libertarian Movement Party, was quoted as accusing Arias of suffering from a sort of “autism” and claimed the president spoke of a country very disconnected from reality.

Arias acknowledged these criticisms at a press lunch the following day, but dismissed them as “the usual response.” He reiterated his comments from the previous night, saying that given the challenges his administration was faced with, he was proud of what the government has done.