BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - In tiny, peaceful Costa Rica, a country that lives on its reputation as a laid-back vacation spot, the political ascent of a conservative evangelical pastor has caught many by surprise.

On Sunday, Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz — who has said he’ll challenge the rights of same-sex couples, consider withdrawing from the Inter-American Human Rights Court and uphold the country’s rigid anti-abortion laws — hopes to win the presidency.

His popularity is part of the growing tide of evangelical political power in Latin America — a force that is helping make Central America one of the most socially conservative swaths of the hemisphere.

“The conservative message of evangelicals regarding reproductive rights and marriage is going mainstream,” said Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College. “The most important flagships of the evangelicals, including their homophobic and pro-life discourse, is not that extreme to Costa Rican voters and voters in other countries.” Read more via Miami Herald