| Oscar Arias Sanchez is the current president | | | | |
| of the country of Costa Rica. He first | | | | Esquipulas Accord |
| assumed office on May 8, 2006 and is | | | | |
| currently serving his second term. He had | | | | By the time Arias became the president of |
| first been elected president on May 8, 1986 | | | | Costa Rica, the Central American countries |
| and served until May 8, 1990. | | | | were engaged in violent and long-running |
| | | | civil wars. In May 1986, President Arias was |
| President Arias is best known as one of the | | | | one of the five Central American presidents |
| driving figures behind the end of the Central | | | | that attended the first Esquipulas Summit in |
| American civil wars during the 1980s. For his | | | | Esquipulas, Guatemala. |
| efforts, Oscar Arias Sanchez received the | | | | |
| Nobel Peace Price in 1987. | | | | The summit resulted into a Peace Plan which |
| | | | was submitted on February 15, 1987. From this |
| Aside from that, President Arias was also | | | | peace plan, the Esquipulas Peace Process was |
| awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for | | | | drafted. The Process was a framework for |
| Humanitarianism. The Economists for Peace and | | | | resolving conflict and for economic |
| Security also accepted him as a trustee. | | | | cooperation between the beleaguered Central |
| President Arias is a member of the Board of | | | | American states. |
| Directors of International Criminal Court's | | | | |
| Trust Fund for Victims. | | | | Another summit was then held by the five |
| | | | Central American presidents including Arias, |
| Personal History | | | | which resulted to the "Esquipulas II" accord |
| | | | that was signed on August 7, 1987 in |
| President Arias was born on September 13, | | | | Guatemala City. |
| 1940 in Heredia, Costa Rica. He was born to | | | | |
| an upper class family, a status which made it | | | | Despite rejection by the United States due to |
| possible for him to undergo secondary | | | | its recognition of the Nicaraguan Sandinista |
| schooling at the Colegio Saint Francis in San | | | | regime, the accoes was successful as it paved |
| Jose, Costa Rica. | | | | the way for the 1990 reconciliation and |
| | | | ending of the 30-year Guatemalan Civil War, |
| After finishing his secondary schooling, | | | | and the peace agreement in El Salvador. |
| Oscar Arias Sanchez flew to the United States | | | | |
| in order to study medicine in Boston | | | | Arias' efforts led to the awarding of the |
| University. However, he changed his mind | | | | Nobel Peace Prize, although there are |
| after a while and returned to Costa Rica. He | | | | criticisms that he has plagiarized |
| finished law and economics instead at the | | | | propositions made by Vinicio Cerezo of |
| University of Costa Rica. To continue | | | | Guatemala as his own. |
| educating himself, Arias flew to the United | | | | |
| Kingdom in 1967, where he went to school in | | | | Second Presidency |
| the London School of Economics. Eight years | | | | |
| later in 1974, he received a political | | | | The Costa Rican judiciary formerly forbade |
| science doctorate degree from the University | | | | former presidents from running for a second |
| of Essex. | | | | term. However, in 2004, the Constitutional |
| | | | Court made a very controversial decision |
| The Costa Rican president is also the holder | | | | removing that restriction. Following that, |
| of over 50 honorary degrees from different | | | | Arias announced his intention to run for a |
| universities. | | | | second presidency opposite Otton Solis, Otto |
| | | | Guevara, Ricardo Toledo and Antonio Alvarez. |
| The National Liberation Party and his First | | | | |
| Presidency | | | | Solis and Arias were the foremost among the |
| | | | five presidential candidates. Competition was |
| Arias joined the Partido Liberacion Nacional | | | | stiff, with only a 0.4% or 3,200-vote |
| and ran under its banner for president in | | | | difference after the first count. Voters who |
| 1986. The PLN is known for being the party | | | | abstained from voting for the other |
| under which several popular Costa Rican | | | | candidates even voted for Solis at the last |
| presidents belong to, like its founder Jose | | | | minute, resulting in the thin margin of |
| Figueres. Under the same banner, Arias | | | | votes. It was seen as an effort to prevent |
| achieved victory. | | | | Arias from winning. |
| | | | |
| He then went on to shift Costa Rican economy | | | | One of the first decisions he made on his |
| to focus on non-traditional agriculture and | | | | second Presidency was to end Costa Rica's |
| tourism, which some of his own party mates | | | | recognition of Taiwan as the Republic of |
| critized as shifting to a neoliberal economic | | | | China, and instead recognized the mainland |
| model. The PLN, after all, focuses on social | | | | People's Republic of China. |
| democrat teachings, which they claimed Arias | | | | |
| abandoned during his administration. | | | | Tendinitis |
| | | | |
| President Arias also reinstated the standard | | | | Just recently, on May 20, 2008, President |
| academic tests that students have to take | | | | Arias was diagnosed as having a nonmalignant |
| upon finishing primary and secondary | | | | cyst on his vocal cords by the Philadelphia |
| schooling. He also pushed for the creation of | | | | Ears, Nose and Throat Associates. Doctors |
| the Central American Parliament, although | | | | then advised him not to talk for a month, |
| currently he announced Costa Rica's | | | | after which surgery may be performed if his |
| non-participation in the Parliament. | | | | condition did not improve. |