Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez (December 29, 1925 – November 29, 2016) was the
President
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of
Costa Rica from 1982 to 1986. He also served as Costa Rica's first Ambassador to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
from 1963 until 1966.
Biography
Early and personal life
Monge was born on December 29, 1925, in
Palmares,
Alajuela Province
Alajuela () is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua to the north. It also borders the provinces of Heredia to the east, San José to the south, Puntarenas to the southwest and ...
, to Gerardo Monge Quesada and Elisa Álvarez Vargas.
[
He married his first wife, Flora Rojas Alvarez, on March 9, 1946, but the marriage was dissolved in January 1960.][ He met his second wife, Doris Yankelewitz Berger, while both were attending a luncheon at the ]University of Costa Rica
The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro M ...
.[ At the time, Yankelewitz was a college student while Monge was serving as Ambassador to Israel.][ Monge and Yankelewitz married at a ceremony in San José on November 25, 1965.][ They had one daughter, Lena.][
Monge and Yankelewitz later separated at the end of his presidency in 1986.][ The couple divorced in June 1988.][
]
Career
Before becoming President in 1982, Monge served as Costa Rica's first ambassador to Israel from 1963 to 1966 and was one of the founding members of the National Liberation Party (PLN) in 1951. He was also named a deputy in the Legislative Assembly, at age 24, making him one of the youngest to have reached such rank. He was the President of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica from 1973 to 1974.Legislative Assembly Official website
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Monge inherited an impoverished and distraught nation. The biggest issues his presidency dealt with were: the unmanageable economic crisis, the mounting foreign debt and the Sandinista
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto C ...
-Contra
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crisis involving Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, the United States
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and Costa Rica's northern border region.
In dealing with the country's economic situation, he began austere programs on public spending, eliminated many government subsidies to various activities and promoted exports and receptive tourism. He eliminated export and production taxes. Monge also reformed monetary law, and forced all foreign currencies to go through the national bank system. A lot of his efforts paid off, reducing inflation and unemployment. During Monge's term, Costa Rica declared an alignment with all "western democracies" and began to work closely with the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, while its relationship with Nicaragua continued to deteriorate.
By then, the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
was involved in suppressing further socialist revolts in the region and saw Costa Rica as a stable ally in which to base their operations against Nicaragua's Sandinista government. The U.S. imposed a commercial embargo against Nicaragua, facilitating the deepening of the rift between Costa Rica and its northern neighbor. Unwillingly, Costa Rica became too involved in the United States' struggle to topple the Sandinistas and in an attempt to pull away, proclaimed Costa Rica as an active, neutral nation. With Costa Rica still in the midst of a terrible economic recession, Monge opted to exchange sovereignty for economic stability: he gave in to pressure from the United States and accepted American financial assistance in exchange for allowing the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
to set up small "unofficial" strategic outposts along the northern border.
Shortly after becoming President, Monge traveled to Israel, where, without knowing about the United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, he raised the national flag on Costa Rica's embassy building in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. He defined his actions as "exercising sovereignty".
Death
On November 29, 2016, Monge suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest at his home in Santa Ana. He was rushed to the San Juan de Dios hospital, where he was declared dead aged 90.
References
External links
*
Biography on the PLN website
*
Biography by CIDOB Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monge, Luis Alberto
1925 births
2016 deaths
People from Palmares (canton)
National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians
Presidents of Costa Rica
Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
Ambassadors of Costa Rica to Israel
People of the Costa Rican Civil War
Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic