From Reuters - World:

OTTO GUEVARA

A Harvard-educated lawyer and founder of the country's pro-business Libertarian Movement party, Guevara has surged in opinion polls in recent months, winning support from Costa Ricans seeking an outsider candidate.

The former lawmaker wants to take a hard line against rising crime, extending prison sentences and easing gun laws for law-abiding citizens.

Despite Costa Rica's stable macroeconomic fundamentals, Guevara, 49, has called for scrapping the floating colon currency, which he says is grossly undervalued, and replacing it with the U.S. dollar.

He gained prominence as an ambitious young lawmaker for fighting wasteful spending in Costa Rica's elaborate public health care and insurance system and has promised to slash bureaucracy if elected.

Now Reuters and other news services are reporting a "late surge" for Guevara. Continuing:

Polls place Laura Chinchilla within striking distance of the 40 percent of the vote she needs to avoid a runoff, but a late surge by conservative former lawmaker Otto Guevara and gains by centrist Otton Solis have narrowed her lead.

One poll just released by Demoscopía published in Al Día shows Guevara increasing from 19.5% in December to 30.1% in January. Though Chincilla still leads at 45%.

Still, another poll finds Guevara in a slightly better position. La Nacion newspaper reported (via Reuters), "Outsider closes gap in Costa Rica Presidential race":

Newcomer Otto Guevara from the fringe Libertarian Movement, has pulled into second place behind Chinchilla ahead of the Feb. 7 election...

Chinchilla, a moderate from the National Liberation Party who is backed by sitting President Oscar Arias, had 40 percent of decided voters in her camp, down from 63 percent in a September poll, while Guevarra's support jumped to 30 percent from 13 percent in the earlier survey.