María Mercedes Peñas Domingo (born November 18, 1968) is a Spanish–Costa Rican

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and specialist in

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...

in Latin America. Peñas held the position of First Lady of Costa Rica from May 8, 2014 to May 8, 2018, as the partner of former Costa Rican President

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 ...

Biography

Peñas was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, on November 18, 1968. She first visited Costa Rica in August 1991 to attend the

University for Peace The University for Peace (UPEACE) is an international university and intergovernmental organization established as a treaty organisation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980. The university offers postgraduate, doctoral, and executive ...

(UPEACE), where she obtained a master's degree in International Relations, Peace, and Development Cooperation. Peñas spent two years studying at UPEACE in Costa Rica before returning to Spain after completing her master's degree. Two years later, she returned to Costa Rica to work at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture's (IICA) Department of External Affairs. Additionally, she has worked as a consultant for the

Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American environmental activist, who serve ...

, the European Union and the United Nations. Peñas has worked for DEMUCA, the financial branch of the

Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) () is an autonomous agency of the Spanish government responsible for the management of the government's international development cooperation policy. Its original name was S ...

(AECID), since 1997. She is now a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of Costa Rica. Peñas kept a low profile during much of the 2014 presidential election. She and Luis Guillermo Solís, the then-candidate of the Citizens' Action Party, made their first joint appearance at a press conference on March 8, 2014, to discuss Johnny Araya Monge, Solis' opponent who had dropped out of the campaign. Mercedes Peñas Domingo became First Lady of Costa Rica on May 8, 2014, when Solis was inaugurated President. She succeeded José María Rico, the outgoing First Gentleman of Costa Rica. On her Facebook, Peñas describes herself as "Mujer, madre, compañera y Primera Dama de la República de Costa Rica" (''Woman, mother, companion and First Lady of the Republic of Costa Rica''). Peñas accompanied her husband on her first official visit to her native Spain on March 17 and 18, 2015.

Personal life

Peñas met Luis Guillermo Solís while studying for her master's at the University for Peace and have dated since 2006. They live under civil partnership and have one daughter, Inés Solís Peñas. Solís has five children from his previous marriage to Nancy Richards.

References

External links

Presidency of Costa Rica: First Lady Mercedes Peñas Domingo
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Penas Domingo, Mercedes Living people 1968 births First ladies and gentlemen of Costa Rica Costa Rican political scientists Spanish political scientists Spanish emigrants to Costa Rica People from Madrid Women political scientists