HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a
Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
n politician and educator who was the 47th
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 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC). Solís led the field in the 2014 presidential election, and won the presidency in a landslide election, earning more votes than any presidential candidate in the history of the nation. Solís has a long academic and political career, culminating in his election as the first President of Costa Rica to be a member of the PAC. Since May 2017, Luis Guillermo Solis has been under fire after a report accused him of corruptly expediting the legal process of Chinese cement imports in favor of businessman and owner of Sinocem, Juan Carlos Bolaños, in a case known as ''Cementazo''. In May 2018 the Public Prosecutor of Costa Rica dismissed the charges against him.


Early life, education, and academic career

Solís was born in
San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...
, to Vivienne Rivera Allen, an educator, and Freddy Solís Avendaño, an uneducated
shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...
. Both his parents lived in
Turrialba Turrialba may refer to: Places * Turrialba Volcano * Turrialba Volcano National Park, created around Turrialba Volcano. * Turrialba (canton), located in Cartago Province Cartago (), which means Carthage in Spanish, is a Provinces of Costa Ri ...
, and as such many residents consider him Turrialban. His maternal grandmother's family has Afro-Caribbean and Chinese roots, coming from
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
to Costa Rica in the early 1900s. Solís grew up in San Pedro de Montes de Oca and Curridabat, neighborhoods of San José. He attended Methodist High School in San José, where he was president of the student body, before studying history at the University of Costa Rica, where he earned a degree with academic honors in 1979. He earned a master's degree in
Latin American Studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, histor ...
at
Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...
in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. Solís has held various academic and consulting positions. Between 1981 and 1987, he was an associate professor at the University of Costa Rica. In addition, he was a
Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...
at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
from 1983 to 1985. During this time, Solís worked with the
Arias In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, normally part of a larger ...
administration and eventually became director of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation (CPR for its Spanish initials). From 1992 to 1995, Solís worked with the Academic Council of the United Nations System. Starting in 1999, Solís worked for
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
as coordinator in the Center for the Administration of Justice and as a researcher for the Latin American and Caribbean Center, where he analyzed political and social events in Latin America. A writer and editorial writer, Solís has published numerous essays and books about national and international affairs. In the 1990s, he wrote for ''La República'', a daily newspaper based in San José. His writing has been published by Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, Frontera Norte, Espacios and Global Governance. His writing has focused on civil society, international relations, and trade. Solís is a member of the
Inter-American Dialogue The Inter-American Dialogue (Spanish and Portuguese: ''Diálogo Interamericano''), also known as the Dialogue or IAD, is a U.S.-based think tank in the field of international affairs primarily related to the Western Hemisphere. Headquartered in ...
.


Political beginnings

While still at UCR, Solís joined the National Liberation Party (PLN for its Spanish initials) in 1977. Solís was an adviser to
Óscar Arias 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 from 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2010. Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ...
in the Foreign Ministry, working on the Esquipulas Peace Agreement for which Arias would later win a
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 ...
. Solís served as Director of International Relations for the PLN. During
José María Figueres Olsen José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...
's time in office, Solís was ambassador of Central American Affairs. In 2002, Solís followed Rolando González Ulloa as General Secretary of the PLN, a position he resigned from the following year, citing his disappointment with the
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent S.A. () was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. The company focused on Fixed line telephone, fixed, Mobile phone, mobile and telecommunications convergence, ...
bribery scandal that many PLN leaders were involved in. In 2005, he denounced the PLN for irregularities and corruption during party elections, along with a host of former PLN members. Solís went as far as to call the PLN leadership "Napoleonic" and "anti-democratic". He officially renounced his affiliation with the party and returned to academics. After the 2006 election, Solís' name began to come up in PAC circles, particularly at meetings of the "ungroup," an informal gathering of PAC officials, led by former deputy and former Vice President of the National University of Costa Rica Alberto Salom Echeverría. Ottón Solís, one of PAC's founders and three-time presidential candidate, suggested that Luis Guillermo Solís run as a vice presidential candidate in 2010. Luis Guillermo Solis rejected the offer because he was working for the General Secretariat of Ibero-America (SEGIB for its Spanish initials), and employees of SEGIB were not allowed to participate in elections. In 2009, Luis Guillermo Solís began his official affiliation with PAC. He began attending meetings of the "ungroup" in 2010. Within the party, PAC leader María Eugenia Venegas recognized Solís' potential and pushed for him to be elevated within the party. Solís undertook several trips around the country to meet with national and provincial PAC leaders.


2014 presidential campaign

Solís announced his candidacy for president on 27 November 2012. In the PAC's primary, he ran against Epsy Campbell Barr, Juan Carlos Mendoza García, and Ronald Solís Bolaños, winning with 35 percent of the vote, only 110 votes more than Juan Carlos Mendoza García. In October 2013, he chose Helio Fallas and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría as his Vice-Presidential running mates. Among his aims, Solís claimed he would clean up corruption, create major investments in infrastructure, and shore up Costa Rica's
universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...
and
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
system. He also promised to continue initiatives to keep Costa Rica environmentally friendly. He said that he would "put the brakes" on new free trade agreements and would begin correctly administrating current free trade agreements. As such, Solís received a tremendous amount of political support from the country's trade unions. On 2 February 2014, Solís won the most votes in the election with 30.95 percent. PLN candidate Johnny Araya came second with 29.95 percent of the vote. Most of Solís' support came from the Central Valley provinces of San José,
Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela (canton), Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of ...
, Heredia and Cartago. Because no candidate exceeded 40 percent of the vote, a runoff was scheduled for 6 April, as required by the constitution. However, on 5 March, Araya announced that he would abandon his campaign after polls showed him far behind Solís; one poll showed him losing by over 43 percent. However, under Costa Rican law the runoff still had to take place, and Solís won with over 77 percent of the vote, the largest margin ever recorded for a free election in Costa Rica. Unlike the first round, Solís earned a majority in every province, including Puntarenas,
Limón Limón (), also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of both the province and canton of the same name. One of Costa Rica's seven "middle cities" (i.e., main cities outside of San José's Greater Metropolitan Area), Limón has a populat ...
, and Guanacaste. When he took office on 8 May, he was the first president in 66 years not to come from the PLN or what is now the PUSC. Immediately after the election, Solís thanked Costa Rican voters. He received congratulatory notes from world leaders, including
US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
, Ecuadoran President
Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...
, Mexican President
Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican former politician and lawyer who was the 64th president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), he p ...
, Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...
, Bolivian President
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
, and the spokesperson from the French Ministry of International Affairs. For his part, Araya congratulated Solís on his victory, calling for national unity.


Presidency

A little over a week before taking office, in April 2014, Solís announced the creation of his cabinet. His cabinet consists of mostly PAC members or non-aligned citizens. However, two PUSC members were also added: María del Rocío Sáenz, Abel Pacheco's former health minister, heads the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social). Delia Villalobos, another former health minister, heads the Social Protection Council (Consejo de Seguridad). Solís took office on 8 May 2014, amid festive fanfare. Delegations from more than 80 countries attended his inauguration at La Sabana Metropolitan Park, including Prince Felipe de Borbón of Spain,
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
of
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...
of
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
, and the Secretary General of the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
,
José Miguel Insulza José Miguel Insulza Salinas (born June 2, 1943) is a Chilean politician, lawyer, and academic serving as a senator for the Arica y Parinacota Region since 2018. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1999 and Ministe ...
. Solís said, in Costa Rican vernacular, that he is taking over a "weed farm" (finca encharralada), pointing out growing income inequality and poverty, as well as a national teachers' strike.


Economic issues

In 2014, President Solís presented a budget with an increase in spending of 19% for 2015, an increase of 0.5% for 2016 and an increase of 12% for 2017. When the 2017 budget was finally proposed, it totaled US$15.9 billion. Debt payments account for one-third of that amount. Of greater concern is the fact that a full 46% of the budget will require financing, a step that will increase the debt owed to foreign entities. The country's credit rating was reduced by
Moody's Investors Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...
in early 2017 to Ba2 from Ba1, with a negative outlook on the rating. The agency particularly cited the "rising government debt burden and persistently high fiscal deficit, which was 5.2% of GDP in 2016". Moody's was also concerned about the "lack of political consensus to implement measures to reduce the fiscal deficit
hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
will result in further pressure on the government's debt ratios". In late July 2017, the Costa Rica Central Bank estimated the budget deficit at 6.1 percent of the country's GDP. A 2017 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that reducing the foreign debt must be a very high priority for the government. Other fiscal reforms were also recommended to moderate the budget deficit.


Liquidity problems

In early August 2017, the President admitted that the country was facing a "liquidity crisis" and promised that a higher VAT tax and higher income tax rates were being considered by his government. Such steps are essential, Solís told the nation, because it was facing difficulties in paying its obligations and guaranteeing the provision of services." "Despite all the public calls and efforts we have made since the start of my administration to contain spending and increase revenues, there is still a gap that we must close with fresh resources," he said. The crisis was occurring in spite of growth, low inflation and continued moderate interest rates, Solís concluded. He explained that the Treasury will prioritize payments on the public debt first, then salaries, pensions, and, finally, on infrastructure. The subsequent priorities include transfers to institutions "according to their social urgency." All other payments will be made only if funds are available.


Political, economic, and social philosophy

Like most members of PAC, Solís identifies himself as a
progressivist Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...
. His ''Plan Rescate'', or ''Rescue Plan'', outlines his political beliefs. This plan focused on three central issues:
anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measur ...
,
economic growth In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...
, and reducing
income inequality In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes ...
. Solís claims that economic
neoliberalism 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 pe ...
has created too much income inequality for Costa Rica. Past governments have avoided collecting taxes on large companies and high-income earners, leading to
budget deficits The government budget balance, also referred to as the general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the difference between government government revenues, revenues and government expenditures, spending. For ...
which Solís claims his administration will fix through better enforcement. Banks should not encourage exports at the expense of income growth among the poor, according to Solís. He believes that
economic liberalization Economic liberalization, or economic liberalisation, is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...
has generally harmed women more than men because they have traditionally had less access to higher-income jobs. Part of that liberalization, he claims, included ignoring the financial and growth needs of the agricultural industry. Solís supports environmental protections, which he believes Costa Rica has forgotten. As such, Solís believes that water must be safeguarded from private development and mismanagement, something that has caused water shortages in many of the country's municipalities. Solís claims that he will prosecute violators of the Water Resources Management Bill. In addition, Solís supports increased LGBT rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals. In May 2014, he ordered that a rainbow flag be flown over the Presidential House as a show of solidarity with gays on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Solís is a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. As a presidential candidate, he visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Angels, home to the Costa Rican
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
La Negrita, a traditional pilgrimage for many Costa Ricans and tourists. He supports the
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...
despite Catholicism being the country's official religion. With regard to ethical issues, he also supports
civil unions A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...
, and in-vitro fertilization.


Personal life

Solis has five children from his previous marriage to his first wife, Nancy Olive Worsfold Richards (1987–2006): Monica, Cristina, Beatriz, Diego, and Ignacio. Solís is not married to Mercedes Peñas Domingo, but during his administration, she was altogether considered the First Lady of Costa Rica. He and Peñas, who began dating in 2006, have one daughter, Inés. Peñas said that she hoped to be active as an adviser to Solís, who called her "
Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the Talking Cricket, a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adapted into the animated film '' Pinoc ...
." Peñas said that some of her duties as First Lady were
machista Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being "masculinity, manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its ...
and she would nevertheless greet dignitaries and perform other obligations. In addition to public service and academics, Solís enjoys farming. As of July 2020, Solis has been named the Interim Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
. where he has been working as a professor since 2018.


References


External links


Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Solis, Luis Guillermo 1958 births Citizens' Action Party (Costa Rica) politicians Costa Rican people of Chinese descent Costa Rican people of Jamaican descent Costa Rican Roman Catholics Government ministers of Costa Rica Living people People from San José, Costa Rica Presidents pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States Costa Rican politicians of Chinese descent Presidents of Costa Rica Tulane University alumni University of Michigan alumni University of Costa Rica alumni Members of the Inter-American Dialogue