The National Liberation Party (PLN) kept its centrist bent by electing Antonio Calderón as secretary general Saturday.

Calderón, backed by President Oscar Arias' administration, roundly defeated the more leftwing candidate Rolando González in an internal party election. The secretary general helps define the party's ideology and influences the selection of a candidate for the 2010 presidential election, which Liberation is favored to win.

The party's National Assembly, with 124 representatives from across the country, gave 73 votes to Calderón and 41 to Gonzaléz. There were one blank and one null vote, and the remaining delegates were absent. 

Calderón, 49, is a practicing lawyer and member of the party's political board. He has less party experience than González, 57, who was secretary general for six years and legislator for four.

Calderón campaigned for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), while González remained publicly neutral.