Oscar Arias Sanchez

In 1973, Oscar Arias married Margarita Peñón Góngora, a biochemist trained at Vassar College, New York. All along, she has been working closely with her husband in turning Costa Rica into a prosperous country. The couple has two children: a son, Óscar Felipe Arias Penón and a daughter, Silvia Eugenia Arias Penón.

Óscar Arias Sánchez was born on 13 September 1940 in Heredia, located ten kilometers north of San José, into a wealthy and politically influential family. Over generations, several of his family members had held prominent posts, both in national legislature and presidential cabinets.

Oscar’s father, Juan Arias, a lawyer, was the head of the Costa Rica Central Bank. His mother, Lillyan Arias Sanchez, was the scion of another coffee growing family. He was the eldest of his parents’ three children. His brother, Rodrigo Arias Sánchez, is around six years junior to him.

Brought up in such an environment, there is no wonder that when asked about his life’s ambition, Oscar would promptly say that he wanted to be the president. However, as a child he suffered from chronic asthma and therefore spent a lot of time indoors, reading books. He was very studious and often read into nights.

He began his education at a private Catholic school in Heredia and then moved to Colegio Saint Francis in San Jose. By the time he passed out from school, his life’s ambition had changed and he now wanted to become a doctor.

Accordingly in 1959, he enrolled at Boston University, where he took premedical courses in chemistry, botany and zoology, but quickly realized that these subjects did not interest him. Instead he liked history and politics better.

On returning home, Oscar Arias Sanchez began his career as a professor of political science at the University of Costa Rica. At the same time, he resumed his political involvement with National Liberation Party (PLN) and became an assistant to former president José Figueres Ferrer, who was seeking re-election.

When in 1972, Figueres was re-elected as the President, Arias was appointed as the Minister of National Planning and Political Economy, a position he held until 1977. Given the then lack of infrastructure in Costa Rica, it was indeed a challenging post for so young a person.

During this period, he distinguished himself for his open-mindedness as well as for his impartiality. This led to his quick rise within the party hierarchy. In 1975, he was elected the International Secretary and in 1979, the General Secretary of the PLN, representing the party at several Socialist International congresses.

Meanwhile in 1977, he published ‘Costa Rica in the Year 2000.’ In it, he declared that in future both farmers and factory workers would have better earnings. Moreover, there would be a more equitable distribution of wealth, more justice and a more accessible government.

In 1978, although PLN lost the election, Oscar Arias was elected to the national legislature. Sitting in the opposition, he brought out a legislation that made the government more accessible to the common people.

Two years later, in around 1984, Oscar Arias gained the party’s nomination for the 1986 Presidential election. He therefore relinquished his duties as party general secretary to concentrate on the campaign.

At that time, the country’s economy was hit with a severe recession and the whole continent was badly torn by insurgencies in neighboring Nicaragua and El Salvador. At a time like this, Arias came out with his slogan, "Roofs, jobs, and peace."

The election was closely fought. Nonetheless, Arias won 52.3% of the votes against 45.8% for the Christian Social Unity candidate and was sworn in as the President of Costa Rica on May 8, 1986.

Immediately, he started working on the goals he had set in his 1977 book, ‘Costa Rica in the Year 2000.’ So far the economy of the country was mainly based on the production of coffee and banana. His government now focused on non-traditional items like exotic flowers and fruits.

In addition, he tried to develop tourism as one of the pillars of the country’s economy. He also brought about reforms in education sector and reintroduced standardized academic tests at the end of primary and secondary levels.