COSTA RICA (By Marianela Jimenez, Associated Press) February 22, 2006 — Free trade proponent Oscar Arias won Costa Rica's presidential election by 18,167 votes, one of the country's closest races ever, according to results released Wednesday. Election judges were waiting until complaints were resolved before making an official declaration.

An Associated Press tabulation of the complete official vote count showed arias — a former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate — received 664,545 votes compared to 646,378 votes for Otton Solis, a lesser-known economist who opposes a free-trade agreement with the United States.

"I thank the Costa Rican people for their confidence," Arias said in brief comments to reporters Wednesday night, adding that he will lead the country again 20 years after his first term as president.

Oscar Fonseca, president of the Supreme Electoral Court President, said authorities would not make an official declaration of the winner until all challenges had been resolved. The parties of all 14 candidates have three days to file any complaints.

Voters have been waiting more than two weeks for the results as officials hand counted more than 1.3 million votes cast on Feb. 5 — the closest Costa Rican presidential race in recent history.

The tribunal initially started tallying election results electronically, but suspended the process because of the razor-thin difference between the candidates. It then chose to count the votes over by hand because a combined electronic-manual vote count would not be reliable.

Pre-election polls had predicted an easy victory for Arias, the center-right National Liberation Party candidate, helped end the bloody conflicts that wracked Central America in the 1980s and was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts. The polls had showed Solis, of the Citizens' Action Party, with little more than a quarter of the vote.

But analysts said Solis was aided by voters' polarization over a regional free-trade pact with the United States, which he opposed.

Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic already have approved the pact, leaving Costa Rica as the only eligible country yet to ratify it .

Solis argued that the accord would ruin small-scale farmers and deepen poverty in Costa Rica.

Arias, who served as president from 1986-90, said joining the Central American Free Trade Agreement would help revitalize a stagnant economy and improve living standards for the 20 percent of the population living in poverty.

Arias also said he would use his mediation skills to bring together a divided country.

"I will have to pay attention to half of the population who didn't vote for me," Arias said during the campaign. "But I can tell you that I know how to negotiate. I'm a conciliatory, humble listener."

Solis served as minister of planning during Arias' first administration but in 2001 formed Citizens' Action, a party that became Costa Rica's second-largest after corruption scandals rocked the ruling Social Christian Unity Party. He lost the presidential election four years ago.

For the past 48 years, Costa Rica's presidents have belonged to the ruling Social Christian Unity or National Liberation parties, but a string of corruption scandals involving three former presidents has rocked the country.

Voter turnout in this month's election was 65 percent, the lowest in Costa Rican history.