Laura Chinchilla won Costa Rica's presidential election in a landslide victory Sunday that is eliciting cheers from women across Central America.

Center-right politician Laura Chinchilla is set to become Costa Rica's first woman president after a landslide victory Sunday that is invigorating women in the tiny Central American nation and beyond.

Ms. Chinchilla received 46.8 percent of the votes, winning Sunday's presidential election in the first round. Her closest competition, left-leaning candidate Ottón Solís, captured just 25.1 percent of votes. Close on his heels in third place was Libertarian candidate Otto Guevara who received 20.9 percent.

“It's a significant moment in Costa Rica's history, to have a woman president,” says Fernando Zeledón, political science professor at the University of Costa Rica. “It’s a new chapter in history.”

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