Otto Guevara draws criticism for ties to Panama’s "Libertarian" President Ricardo Martinelli

From Eric Dondero:

The Presidential election in Costa Rica is just days away. The citizens of the Central American country will go to the polls on Sunday. Holding steady in 2nd place is Libertarian Presidential candidate Otto Guevara at 22%. But one issue that has been brought up by the opposition in the final days is Guevara's ties to privatizing free marketeer President Ricardo Martinelli.

From Americas news site:

the National Liberation Party’s Laura Chinchilla is the one to beat and poised to become Costa Rica’s first female president.

Chinchilla's main rival, a libertarian who wants to replace Costa Rica’s currency with the dollar and cut income taxes, surprised opponents in late 2009 when he bumped Ottón Solís out of the second place spot in the polls—a considerable feat given that in the last election he pulled in less than 10 percent of the vote. Guevara also stunned observers when he took a polygraph test on live television in an attempt to dispel controversy over campaign-financing sources. The libertarian candidate denies accusations that Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, also a libertarian, donated funds to his campaign.

Guevara was quoted in Panama-Guide.com as following the letter of the law:

"They were saying (the money) was coming from Ricardo Martinelli, and that the friendship I have with Ricardo Martinelli was influencing me in some way. There is not a single penny, not one dollar that has come from abroad because it is prohibited and we are abiding by Costa Rican law."

Martinellis is best known for supporting a flat tax. From the WSJ:

Panamanian businessman and free-marketeer Ricardo Martinelli... proposes to impose a flat tax system... at between 12% and 17% for persons, with a full exemption for revenues below a certain level, and between 18% and 22% for companies

Martinelli, left and Guevara appear together in the photo above.

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