More women come forward after Arias sexual assault complaint

Two more women have accused former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel peace laureate, of sexual misconduct after a criminal complaint alleging sexual assault against another woman was filed against him this week in the Central American nation.

Eleonora Antillon, a well-known Costa Rican journalist and TV presenter, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Arias assaulted her in the mid-1980s when she was working for his fledgling presidential bid.

In a separate interview, Emma Daly, communications director for Human Rights Watch, said Arias groped her in a hotel lobby in Nicaragua in 1990 when she was working as a young journalist based in Costa Rica.

The New York Times also reported that a fourth woman, a 53-year-old book editor, alleged that Arias unexpectedly put his hand on her leg during a meeting in 2012. AP was not immediately able to confirm the report.

While the #MeToo movement swept up a number of powerful men in recent years in the United States, its spillover effect has been more muted in Latin America, where critics say macho attitudes die hard.

In Brazil, starting in December, more than 250 women accused a prominent spiritual healer of acts from unwanted fondling to rape, leading to his arrest and a raft of charges.

In Argentina, accusations ranging from sexual assault to sexual harassment have been levelled against the likes of a well-known actor, a senator and a legislative chief of staff.

But none have had a profile like Arias, who was twice elected president of Costa Rica and in 1987 was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work bringing an end to Central America's protracted and bloody civil wars.

The criminal complaint filed Monday in Costa Rica charged that Arias fondled a woman's breasts, kissed her and penetrated her with his fingers in December 2014 at his home in the capital, San Jose.

The woman, a nuclear disarmament activist whose name was not released, had gone there for a meeting related to her cause.

In a brief statement Tuesday, Arias denied the allegation. He said he never violated the will of any woman and fought for gender equality during his career.

He said he would not have further public comment because of the pending legal case.

As more allegations emerged Wednesday, his lawyer, Erick Ramos, echoed that, telling AP that "out of respect for the process that is in course, we are not going to make any kind of declaration."
"I said I wasn't interested, that if he wanted me he would pay me. And he laughed and looked at me and said that he would pay it."
Afterward, Antillon said, she never allowed herself to be alone with Arias, whom she described as someone with "serious problems with arrogance."
"He sees himself as a conqueror."