Ex-costa Rican leader faces additional accusations

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — 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-yearold 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.