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Carlos Andrés Alvarado Quesada (; born 14 January 1980) is a Costa Rican politician, writer, journalist, and political scientist who served as the 48th president of
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 ...
from 8 May 2018 to 8 May 2022. A member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC), Alvarado previously served a
Minister of Labor and Social Security
during the presidency of
Luis Guillermo Solís Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a Costa Rican politician and educator who was the 47th President of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC). Solís led the field in the 2014 pre ...
. Alvarado, who wa
38 years old at the time of his presidential inauguration
became the youngest serving Costa Rican president since
Alfredo González Flores Alfredo González Flores served as President of Costa Rica from 1914 to 1917. He was unable to complete his presidential mandate following a coup d'état on 27 January 1917, led by Federico Tinoco, his secretary for War and the Navy. González ...
who took office in 1914 at the age of 36.


Education

Alvarado holds a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science from the University of Costa Rica. He was a Chevening Scholar from 2008 to 2009, earning a master's degree in development studies from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in Falmer, England.


Personal life

Alvarado was born into a middle-class family in the
Pavas District Pavas is the ninth district of the San José canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica. The district comprises Tobías Bolaños International Airport, San José's domestic airport. Geography Pavas has an area of km2 (the largest dist ...
, San José canton in central Costa Rica, on 14 January 1980. His father
Alejandro Alvarado Induni
was an engineer, and his mother
Adelia Quesada Alvarado
was a homemaker. He has an older brother named Federico and a younger sister named Irene. Alvarado met his future wife,
Claudia Dobles Camargo Claudia Vanessa Dobles Camargo (born 19 November 1980) is a Costa Rican architect and urban planner. Dobles, the wife of President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, served as the First Lady of Costa Rica from 2018 to 2022. She is the first person fro ...
while riding the
school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...
that they both used to travel in, to go to elementary school. Alvarado is Roman Catholic.


Career


Literary career

In 2006, Alvarado Quesada published the anthology of stories ''Transcripciones Infieles'' with
Perro Azul Perro may refer to: * Perro (comics), a super villain in the Marvel Comics Universe * Perro Aguayo (born 1946), Mexican wrestler * Perro Aguayo, Jr. (born 1979), Mexican wrestler * ''Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra'' (album), an album by Pa ...
. That same year, he obtained the Young Creation Award of Editorial Costa Rica with the novel ''La Historia de Cornelius Brown''. In 2012 he published the historical novel ''Las Posesiones'' which portrays the dark historical period in Costa Rica during which the government confiscated the properties of Germans and Italians during World War II.


Early political career

He served as an advisor to the Citizen Action Party's group in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica in the 2006-2010 period. He was a consultant to the
Institute of Development Studies The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a think tank affiliated with the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, and based on its campus in Falmer, East Sussex. It delivers research and teaching in the area of development studies, an ...
of the United Kingdom in financing SMEs, Department Manager of Dish Care & Air Care ( Procter & Gamble Latin America), Director of Communication for the presidential campaign of
Luis Guillermo Solís Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a Costa Rican politician and educator who was the 47th President of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC). Solís led the field in the 2014 pre ...
, professor in the School of Sciences of Collective Communication of the University of Costa Rica and the School of Journalism Of the Universidad Latina de Costa Rica. During the Solís Rivera administration, he served as Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion and Executive President of the Joint Social Welfare Institute, the institution charged with combating poverty and giving state aid to the population with scarce resources. After the resignation of Víctor Morales Mora as minister, Alvarado was appointed
minister of Labor Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
.


President of Costa Rica (2018–2022)

Same-sex marriage was a major issue in the campaign, after a ruling by the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a huma ...
required Costa Rica to recognize such unions. Presidential candidate
Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz Fabricio Gerardo Alvarado Muñoz (born 30 May 1974) is a Costa Rican politician, singer and undergraduate journalist. Biography He was once a deputy in the Legislative Assembly, representing the San José Province. He is also a musician, ha ...
campaigned against same-sex marriage, while Alvarado Quesada argued to respect the court's ruling. On 1 April 2018, Alvarado Quesada won the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
(second round) with 61%, defeating Alvarado Muñoz. He was sworn into office on 8 May 2018. As president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada focused on decarbonizing Costa Rica's economy. He set a goal for the country to achieve zero net emissions by the year 2050. He planned to build an electric rail-based public transit system for the capital,
San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...
since 40% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. On 24 February 2019, he launched a plan to fully decarbonize the country's economy, in a ceremony alongside
Christiana Figueres Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen (born 7 August 1956) is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFC ...
, the Costa Rican former UNFCCC head. At this event, he described decarbonization as "the great challenge of our generation," and declared that "Costa Rica must be among the first countries to achieve it, if not the first." He pushed through a law in December 2018, that included raising taxes and reducing the salaries of public sector employees, which he justified by the country's poor economic situation. His actions resulted in the largest general strike in twenty years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to maintain a
neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
economic policy with high social costs. The government has thus cut public spending, especially in the education budget. Unemployment has risen from 8.1% in 2017 to 14.4% by the end of 2021, 23% of the population lives below the poverty line and the public debt has reached 70% of GDP, one of the highest rates in Latin America. While this policy was supported in Congress by the National Liberation Party (PNL) and the
Social Christian Unity Party The Social Christian Unity Party ( es, Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica. PUSC considers itself a Christian-democratic party and, as such, is a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of Americ ...
(PUSC), the two main traditional parties, it has caused the government to lose the support of civil servants, academics, the left, and a large part of the middle class. According to ECLAC, Costa Rica is expected to be the Latin American country, along with Brazil, that will have the most difficulty in reviving its economy after the pandemic. The country's political life has been marked by corruption cases, both in government and in opposition parties, which have contributed to the discrediting of the political class among a part of the population. Ministers, former ministers, and mayors have been implicated in corruption cases involving embezzlement and bribery for multi-million dollar public works contracts. In 2021, six mayors, including the mayor of the capital San José, were arrested. Some cases even revealed the penetration of political circles by
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
groups. At the end of Carlos Alvarado's presidential term, he had a twelve percent approval rating. His successor, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, assumed office on 8 May 2022.


After the presidency

During his government, Alvarado combined his national activities with his participation in international events, both in-person and virtual, on Costa Rica's global positioning as a leading nation in sustainability, energy, and climate change mitigation. Alvarado was invited by organizations such as Chatham House, Atlantic Council, and DC Dialogues, moderated by Columbia University professor and CNN en Español columnist Geovanny Vicente. After his presidency, Alvarado continued with this academic agenda, serving as a keynote speaker for events at institutions such as Harvard University, the Inter-American Investment and Nature Forum (IABNF), organized by the Inter-American Institute of Justice and Sustainability (IIJS), where he has shared the stage with international leaders like
Claudia S. de Windt Claudia Sofia de Windt Vicente is a Dominican international environmental lawyer and political scientist. Early life and education Claudia S. de Windt was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her grandfather, Admiral , inspired her interest ...
, among others. Currently, he is a professor at the Graduate School of Global Affairs at Tufts University in Massachusetts, United States.


References


External links


Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado Quesada, Carlos 1980 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex Costa Rican male writers Government ministers of Costa Rica Politicians from San José, Costa Rica Writers from San José, Costa Rica Presidents of Costa Rica Costa Rican Roman Catholics