Figuerism or Figuerismo is a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and ideological movement in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

initiated by

José Figueres Ferrer José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer (25 September 1906 – 8 June 1990) served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. During his first term in office he abolished the country's army, nationa ...

, who exercised the presidency of Costa Rica on three occasions; as ''de facto'' ruler after the Costa Rican revolution between 1948 and 1949, and then as democratically elected president twice: 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. Several Costa Rican political parties proclaim themselves as continuators of figuerism and as their most faithful representatives, among them the National Liberation Party, Citizens' Action Party and the Patriotic Alliance, all of whom pay homage to the figure of José Figueres and have personalities in their ranks close to the former president Figueres and of figuerist extraction. Figueres is reminded, among other things, of having respected the "

Social Guarantees Social Guarantees were a series of progressive political reforms made in Costa Rica in the 1940s for the benefit of the working classes. They came about as a result of the alliance between various political and religious figures. Though a widespread ...

" (a series of

social reforms A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

beneficial to the popular classes enacted in the Calderón administration that were not repealed by Figueres after winning the war), for having abolished the army, approved

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, ended

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

(until 1949 blacks had no right to vote or leave certain areas) and the creation of the

Costa Rican Institute of Electricity Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad ( en, Costa Rican Institute of Electricity) (ICE) is the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider. Together with the Radiographic Costarricense SA (RACSA) and Compañ ...

. The centenary of his birth on September 25, 2006 was celebrated both by the government chaired by

Oscar Arias Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

of the National Liberation Party and in the Legislative Assembly by then main opposition force of the Citizen Action Party.

Ideology

José Figueres Ferrer proclaimed himself adherent of

utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

and developed a particularly Creole and native form of Costa Rican socialism difficult to define in international standards. He was a member of the Democratic Action group, in turn part of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

opposed to the Christian socialist government of Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia who was allied to the

Costa Rican Communist Party The People's Vanguard Party, or Popular Vanguard Party () is a communist party in Costa Rica. PVP was founded in 1931 as the Workers and Farmers Party, but was soon renamed to the Communist Party of Costa Rica (''Partido Comunista de Costa Ric ...

and led the revolution against Calderón after the elections in 1948 were canceled by the

Constitutional Congress A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

when Calderón was defeated by the opposition candidate (and future ally of Calderón)

Otilio Ulate Luis Rafael de la Trinidad Otilio Ulate Blanco (August 25, 1891 – October 10, 1973) served as President of Costa Rica from 1949 to 1953. His French heritage comes from his mother, Ermida Blanco. He never married but had two daughters, Olga Mar ...

arguing electoral irregularities, being commander of the so-called National Liberation Army that emerged victorious in the war of 48. In 1953, the Center for the Study of National Problems and Democratic Action merged, giving birth to the National Liberation Party with Figueres as its first candidate and also its first democratically elected president. The Center was fed back from the

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

thought of the time, particularly of

Haya de la Torre Haya may refer to: Biology * ''Haya'' (dinosaur), a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous from Mongolia * ''Haya'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae * Haya de Herguijuela (Spanish: beec ...

. ''Figuerismo'' is not synonymous with liberationism, that is, the ideology that revolves around the National Liberation Party which has a varied archipelago of internal tendencies.

Parties

The political tradition of the National Liberation Party is known as "liberationism" (liberacionismo) and should not be confused with figuerismo, although this is one of the most important trends, different tendencies not always friendly with each other, such as ''arismo'' (linked to the Arias Sánchez family) and ''mongismo'' (to the Araya-Monge family), coexist within the PLN. Both Figueres Ferrer and his son José María Figueres Olsen were presidents of the Republic through the PLN. Other figures such as former deputy and former first lady

Karen Olsen Beck Rita Karen Olsen Beck (born January 31, 1933 Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish American-Costa Rican diplomat, politician and social worker. She has served as the First Lady of Costa Rica during the governments of her husband Jose Figueres Ferrer 1 ...

and Figueres Ferrer's daughter, Muni Figueres, are still PLN members. PLN's main rival, the Citizens' Action Party was founded by different personalities largely from the PLN, PAC has/had among its members personalities close to the figure, as one of its founders was writer

Alberto Cañas Escalante Alberto Cañas Escalante (16 March 1920 – 14 June 2014) was a politician, writer, intellectual, public servant, and journalist from San José, Costa Rica. He is known as one of the most important figures in the cultural, political, and socia ...

who was close to Figueres Ferrer and former first lady Josette Altmann Borbón who was his daughter-in-law and wife of Figueres Olsen. Another figuerista is President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera who left the PLN for the PAC following the disagreement with the support of the party to CAFTA. Solís Rivera used to belong to the figuerista trend along with Mariano Figueres Olsen (also Figueres Ferrer's son and president of the Patriotic Alliance party) and both left the ranks of the PLN at the same time, adhering to different but allied parties.

References

{{Costa Rican political parties Eponymous political ideologies Political history of Costa Rica Political movements in Costa Rica Social democracy Democratic socialism