REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES 1987 12:20 Tight 91179 WAGON GBUISSH7330 MAIL precipitously ousted from the Cabinet because of his objection to the administration strong handed support of Dr. Calderón Guardia.
The Confraternidad Guanacasteca party entered Virgilio Salazar Leiva in the race for the presidency, together with a full slate of congressional candidates, at the eleventh hour. Virgilio Salazar is a respectable but simple school teacher from Guanacaste, and he was entered as a candidate merely for the purpose of receiving protest votes of those not wishing to vote for either Calderón Guardia or Mora. Voting is compulsory under the laws of Costa Rica.
The most significant revelation of the elections was the showing made by the Bloque de Obreros y Campesinos under the leadership of Manuel Mora. In the last presidential election four years ago this party polled approximately four thousand votes. In the mid term congressional elections two years ago, the party polled some eight thousand votes and many of these were cast by liberals and others not affiliated with the party. In the voting of February 11, 1940, Mora received 10, 709, and, as will be explained below, this is believed to represent the current bed rock strength of the party.
The Bloque de Obreros y Campesinos is, in my opinion, principally a labor party interested in improving the lot of the lower classes in Costa Rica. However, due to sporadic relations in past years with political entities outside Costa Rica, and the unofficial use of the title of Communist Party. they were denied representation on the electoral boards on the theory that they did not represent a purely national party. The Government also joined