Mario José Echandi Jiménez (17 June 1915 – 30 July 2011) was the 33rd

President of Costa Rica The president of the Republic of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The president is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two Vice President of C ...

, serving from 1958 to 1962.

As diplomat

Mario Echandi was a career diplomat. Prior to his election, he had served as Costa Rica's ambassador to the United States and as the country's representative to both the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

(1949–1950). He also served as the minister of foreign affairs (1950-1952) under President

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 Ma ...

and in the Legislative Assembly during President

José Figueres José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

's second term in office (1953–1958).

His presidency

President Echandi won the 1958 election by 102.851 votes as candidate of the National Union Party. Francisco J. Orlich was candidate of National Liberation Party with 94.778 and Jorge Rossi had 23.910 votes with the Independent Party. . During his administration some important laws were passed. The "Ley de Aguinaldo" law gave an extra yearly salary to all workers. A law that created the national service for clean water was approved. The law that created a national institute for land reform and colonization. (ITCO law). The first national plan for transit and roads was created, to build a network of highways and roads in the country.

National reconciliation

During his administration some political figures were allowed to return from exile, like the former president

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (March 8, 1900 – June 9, 1970) was a Costa Rican medical doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944. Early life Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was born on 8 March 1900 in San José. In his ...

. His followers were allowed to return to the country and organize politically.

After his presidency

He ran for the presidency on two further occasions – 1970 and 1982 – but was defeated on both.

Death

Echandi died on 30 July 2011 at the age of 96 from pneumonia after a heart attack. His wife died in 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Echandi Jimenezm, Mario 1915 births 2011 deaths People from San José, Costa Rica Presidents of Costa Rica Members of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica National Union Party (Costa Rica) politicians Ambassadors of Costa Rica to the United States Permanent Representatives of Costa Rica to the United Nations Permanent Representatives of Costa Rica to the Organization of American States National Unification Party (Costa Rica) politicians Deaths from pneumonia in Costa Rica Foreign ministers of Costa Rica