Óscar Arias
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Óscar Arias Sánchez (; born 13 September 1940 in Heredia, Costa Rica) is a Costa Rican activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He was
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 ...
from 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2010. Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his proposal of a negotiated solution to the
Central American crisis The Central American crisis began in the late 1970s, when major civil wars and communist revolutions erupted in various countries in Central America, causing it to become the world's most volatile region in terms of socioeconomic change. In particu ...
. He sought the support of the Contadora group for his plan, which involved the removal of all foreign powers from the region, an end to aid for antigovernment guerrillas in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and the implementation of democratic principles and a compromise peace for social reconstruction. Although his plan was not officially adopted, its key concepts were later reflected in the settlements in El Salvador (1990-1993) and Nicaragua (1989-1990). He was also a recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security. In 2003, he was elected to the board of directors of the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
's Trust Fund for Victims.


Early life

Arias was born into an upper-class family in the province of Heredia. Arias concluded his secondary schooling at the Saint Francis College in the capital city of San José. He then went to the United States and enrolled in
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
with the intention of studying medicine, but he soon returned to his home country and completed degrees in law and economics at the University of Costa Rica. In 1967, Arias traveled to the United Kingdom and enrolled in the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. He received a doctoral degree in political science from the
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
in 1974.


First presidency

Arias joined the National Liberation Party (PLN), Costa Rica's main
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
party. In 1986 he ran successfully for president on that party's ticket. Arias's presidency saw the transformation of Costa Rica's economy from one based on the traditional
cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...
s (
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
and
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s) to one more focused on non-traditional agriculture (e.g., of exotic flowers and
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
s) and
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
. Some within the PLN criticized his administration for abandoning the party's social democratic teachings and promoting a
neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
economic model. He is now often regarded as a neoliberal although he is a member of a nominally social democratic party. Arias received the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize with the help of John Biehl, his peer in England, and Rodrigo Madrigal Nieto for his work towards the signing of the Esquipulas II Accords. This was a plan intended to promote
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
and peace on the Central American
isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...
during a time of great turmoil: leftist guerrillas were fighting against the governments in
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
and
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
, which were backed by the United States under the auspices of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
; the
Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
, supported by the United States, were fighting an insurgency against the
Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...
in
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
;
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
, only recently wresting political power from its military, was caught in the middle as a base for U.S. military forces; and on Costa Rica's other border,
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
faced the oppression of
Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno ( , ; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially serv ...
's military dictatorship. With the support of Arias, the various armed conflicts ended within the decade (Guatemala's civil war finally ended in 1996). Arias then called for a higher level of integration in the Central America region and promoted the creation of the
Central American Parliament The Central American Parliament (), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City. History The PARLACEN's origins date b ...
(''Parlamento Centroamericano''). During his current administration, Arias has declared that Costa Rica will not enter the Central American Parliament. Arias also modified the country's
educational system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...
. The most notable action in this respect was the reintroduction of standardized academic tests at the end of primary and secondary school.


Second presidency

The Costa Rican constitution had been amended in 1969 to include a clause forbidding former presidents to seek re-election. Arias challenged this at the Sala IV, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica, which initially rejected his application in September 2000. In 2003, a group of Arias supporters presented an unconstitutionality challenge against the 1969 constitutional amendment forbidding re-election, and this time the ruling in April 2003 struck down the prohibition against non-consecutive re-election. This decision was denounced as a "state blow" or "coup d'état" by ex-president
Luis Alberto Monge Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez (December 29, 1925 – November 29, 2016) was the President of Costa Rica from 1982 to 1986. He also served as Costa Rica's first Ambassador to Israel from 1963 until 1966. Biography Early and personal life Monge ...
. Arias announced in 2004 that he intended to run again for president in the February 2006 general elections. By then, he was the only living former president who was not either in jail, under indictment or facing an investigation. Though for years private polling companies and several news media published polls predicting Arias would win by a wide margin, the election was initially deemed too close to call. A month later, on 7 March, after a manual recount, the official results showed Arias beat center-left contender Ottón Solís by 18,169 votes (1.2% of valid votes cast), and finished just a few thousand votes over the 40 percent threshold required to capture the presidency in a single round. He took the oath of office at noon on 8 May 2006 at the
National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...
. In his speech on 15 September 2008, he admitted that he was tired because of the criticism of his opponents. On 1 June 2007, he switched Costa Rica's diplomatic recognition from the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(Taiwan) to the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, making Costa Rica the 167th nation in the world to do so. Subsequently, under diplomatic and financial pressure from Beijing, he induced the
Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
, a fellow
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
laureate, to postpone indefinitely a proposed and much anticipated visit during Beijing's suppression of controversial riots in
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
. At the 5th Summit of the Americas in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
, on 18 April 2009, Arias gave a speech on the topic "We've been doing something wrong". Directed at fellow Latin American leaders, he decried Latin America's lack of development compared to other parts of the world, calling for pragmatism, and more resources directed at education rather than militaries.


Mediator in 2009 Honduran Constitutional Crisis

In 2009, the Supreme Court of Honduras issued an arrest warrant for Honduran President
Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya is a Hondurans, Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, 2 ...
because of violations of the constitution and laws.Articulo 239: El ciudS Congress Communiqué explaining why ex President Zelaya was removed. Accessdate 9 July 2009 Two days later, the
National Congress of Honduras The National Congress () is the legislative branch of the government of Honduras. Organization The Honduran Congress is a unicameral legislature. The nominal President of the National Congress of Honduras is currently Luis Redondo. Its m ...
(in which Zelaya's own party held 62 out of 128 seats, more than any other party), also voted to dismiss Zelaya. Zelaya fled to Costa Rica. The Honduran constitution mandated that the head of Congress,
Roberto Micheletti Roberto Micheletti Baín (born August 13, 1943) is a Honduran politician who served as the interim and 36th president of Honduras from June 28, 2009, to January 27, 2010, as a result of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état. The Honduran military o ...
, who was next in the presidential line of succession, becomes the provisional head of state since
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Elvin Ernesto Santos had resigned in December 2008 to run for president. Micheletti's term ended 27 January 2010. Arias began serving as mediator between Zelaya and Micheletti in the
2009 Honduran constitutional crisis The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis was a political dispute over plans to hold a popular referendum to either rewrite the Constitution of Honduras or write a new one. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya planned to hold a poll on a referendum ...
. Representatives of the two Hondurans met with Arias on various occasions but so far have failed to reach any kind of agreement. As described above (with factual citations), Arias himself was initially prohibited by Costa Rica's constitutional court from another term, due to constitutional
term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...
s, but this was reversed using legal means, with the consent of the Costa Rican Sala IV court, unlike in Honduras. New elections in Honduras are planned for 29 November 2009. Micheletti's government stated on 2 July 2009 that it is willing to hold this year's presidential election early. Arias presented a seven-point agreement, which calls for the return of Zelaya as president – a condition deemed unacceptable to the interim government. Zelaya's representatives accepted the Arias proposal "in principle" but Micheletti's representatives balked at the key point of Zelaya returning to power in Honduras.


Post-presidency

In 2025, Arias's US visa was revoked by the
US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
, which Arias blamed for his seeking better relations with China when he was president. In a Facebook post published in February, he remarked that
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
acted like "a Roman emperor, dictating to the rest of the world what to do". At a news conference in San José, Arias stated that he had received a brief email from the U.S. government. The message referenced Section 221(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act may refer to one of several acts including: * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 * Immigration Act of 1990 The Immigration Act of 1990 () was signed into la ...
, which grants the secretary of state and consular officers the authority to revoke visas at their discretion.


Health

In August 2007, Arias was affected by
tendinitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...
, and in April 2008 he canceled some activities because of muscular pain in his
lumbar region In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum. Naming and location The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lower spine, or as an ...
. Subsequently, due to increasing difficulty in speaking over the course of several weeks, Arias went to the Philadelphia Ears, Nose and Throat Associates medical center in the United States on 20 May 2008, where it was determined that he had a nonmalignant cyst on his vocal cords. As a result, it was announced on 21 May that doctors advised him not to speak for one month, saying that if this did not help, surgery would be considered. On 11 August 2009 Arias was diagnosed with
H1N1 Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus (IAV). Some human-adapted strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and are one cause of seasonal influenza (flu). Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs ( swine influen ...
Influenza, but he recovered.


Incidents and concerns

*In 2004, in response to a rival candidate (Antonio Álvarez) for his party's nomination challenging him to a debate, Oscar Arias said: "Eagles live in high places, and make a serious mistake if they go down to the mud to fight with snails." *In 2010, during the closing weeks of his second term, he inaugurated various unachieved projects with ribbon-cutting and bronze plaque ceremonies: **The new National Stadium, despite that it was only about 75% finished. **The new presidential offices despite the fact that these offices do not exist yet. The land is still for sale and the Legislative Assembly has allocated no funds yet in order to buy it, let alone build anything on the vacant lot. **The new Juan Santamaría International Airport installation, despite the fact the project was only 82% completed.


Judicial accusations

In 2017 Costa Rica's General Attorney office indicted Arias for the Crucitas case, a case in which former Environment Minister Roberto Dobles and Arias as president signed a 2008 decree ceding the Canadian company Infinito Gold control over a protected area near the Nicaraguan border known as Crucitas for gold mining and declaring it "national interest", something that the Prosecution argued was illegal as protected areas cannot be granted for exploitation of any kind. Dobles was previously found guilty of the charges, but Arias was not indicted alongside him by the previous General Attorney Jorge Chavarría (often accused of being close to Arias). The new General Attorney Emilia Navas reopened the case indicting Arias. Also in 2019 psychiatrist and anti-Nuclear activist Alexandra Arce von Herold formally accused Arias of rape at the Public Ministry. Following her allegation three more women came to light accusing Arias of sexual harassment and misconduct. Arias denied the charges. In December 2020, all sexual harassment charges against Arias were dismissed.


Definitive acquittal and dismissal

After more than a year of investigations, and in the absence of evidence, the cases were dismissed by the prosecution. Due to the request of the two complainants, requiring, therefore, the revocation of the instance and subsequent dismissal. The definitive dismissal was ordered by Judge Natalia Rodríguez Solís, of the Pavas Criminal Court. Regarding the "Crucitas" case, in October 2019 the former president was completely released from the case, according to a judicial resolution.


Recognitions and awards

Arias has received over fifty honorary degrees, including doctorates from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
,
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
,
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
,
Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...
,
Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...
and Washington University in St. Louis. Among the main awards received are: * Premio de la Paz Martin Luther King Jr. * Medalla de la Libertad de Filadelfia.
Premio Jackson Ralston.
* Premio Principe de Asturias. * Premio Humanitario Albert Schweitzer. * Premio de las Américas.


Personal life

Arias is descended from Ana Cardoso, an enslaved woman from Cartago.


Publications


Books

* 1970 ''Grupos de presión en Costa Rica'' * 1976 ''Quién gobierna en Costa Rica'' * 1977 ''Democracia, independencia y sociedad latinoamericana'' * 1978 ''Los caminos para el desarrollo de Costa Rica'' * 1979 ''Nuevos rumbos para el desarrollo costarricense'' * 1984 ¿Quien gobierna en Costa Rica? * 1984 Nuevos rumbos para el desarrollo costarricense * 1985 Democracia, independencia y sociedad latinoamericana * 1989 El camino de la paz * 1990 Horizontes de Paz * 1990 La semilla de la paz * 1994 Nuevas dimensiones de la educación * 2005 ''Hagamos juntos el camino'' (Discursos, artículos y ensayos) * 2007 Sigamos Avanzando * 2012 Con velas, timón y brújula * 2023 The Power of ideas * 2024 Pages of my memory


Articles

Former President Arias has written several opinion articles during his career, which have been published in different journalistic media: * Por amor a la política * Carta de Oscar Arias sobre flujo de armas a Nicaragua * A 30 años de la firma del Plan de Paz * To stem the child migrant crisis, first stop poverty and violence * Lo humanamente correcto * Consejo a los jóvenes de mi país * Mi opinión sobre el proceso de negociación de la paz en Colombia * «The memory of a rare success» * Y ladrillo a ladrillo, fuimos construyendo la paz * Es vital para el país aprobar la reforma fiscal


Speeches

Former President Arias has made a series of speeches, which can be found at Viaf.org:


References


Further reading

* Abrams, Irwin. "Behind the scenes: The Nobel Committee and Oscar Arias." ''The Antioch Review'' 46.3 (1988): 364-373
online
* Anglade, Christian. "President Arias of Costa Rica." ''PS: Political Science & Politics'' 21.2 (1988): 357-359
online
* Cox, Vicki. ''Oscar Arias Sánchez: Bringing Peace to Central America'' (Infobase Publishing, 2007).


External links


Interview in Guernica magazine
*
Ubben Lecture at DePauw University; 8 December 2010 (includes audio/video)




* ttps://www.facebook.com/hpoas?sk=photos Accomplishments of Oscar Arias Sanchez
Education Center Named After Oscar Arias

Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) * * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, Oscar 1940 births Living people People from Heredia (canton) Costa Rican people of Spanish descent National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians 20th-century presidents of Costa Rica Costa Rican Christian socialists University of Costa Rica alumni Alumni of the University of Essex Alumni of the London School of Economics Boston University alumni Costa Rican Nobel laureates Nobel Peace Prize laureates Members of the Inter-American Dialogue 20th-century Costa Rican politicians 21st-century Costa Rican politicians