List of heads of state of Costa Rica

The following is the list of all the heads of state of Costa Rica. The current Constitution establishes that the President of Costa Rica is both head of state and head of government, and the current officeholder is Carlos Alvarado Quesada of the Citizens' Action Party.

First independent governments (1821–1824)

On October 11, 1821, the province of Costa Rica proclaimed its absolute independence from Spain. On the 29th of that month, the city of Cartago, head of the Partido de Costa Rican, also signed an act declaring the absolute independence of the Spanish Government.

During this period the main divisions occurred between two sides; the imperialist who sought to annex Costa Rica to the First Mexican Empire and the Republican who sought full independence from Costa Rica. The monarchicals or monarchists also advocated the recognition of Agustín de Iturbide as emperor.


Political chief of the Province of Costa Rica[1]
OfficeTermFaction

  Republicans   Imperialists

Juan Manuel de Cañas-Trujillo y Sánchez de Madrid Political chiefOctober 11, 1821]– November 12, 1821Españolista
Nicolás Carrillo y Aguirre President of the Town's Legates JuntaNovember 12, 1821 – December 1, 1821Imperialista
Pedro José de Alvarado y Baeza President of the Provisional Government JuntaDecember 1821– January 1822Imperialista
Rafael Barroeta y Castilla President of the Electors BoardJanuary 6–13, 1822; president of the Superior Government Junta, January 6 – April 13, 1822Imperialista
Santiago de Bonilla y Laya-Bolívar President of the Superior Government Junta13 Aprial – June 15, 1822Liberal
José María de Peralta y La Vega President of the Superior Government JuntaJune 15 – October 17, 1822Republican
José Rafael Gallegos Alvarado President of the Superior Government Junta17 octubre de 1822– January 1, 1823Imperialista
José Santos Lombardo y Alvarado President of the Superior Government JuntaJanuary 1 – March 20, 1823Imperialista
Rafael Francisco Osejo President of the Diputación of Costa RicaMarch 20–29, 1823Republican
Joaquín de Oreamuno y Muñoz de la Trinidad General Commander of Arms, de factoMarch 29 – April 5 1823Imperialista
Gregorio José Ramírez y Castro General Commander of Arms, de factoApril 5 – 16, 1823Republican
José María de Peralta y La Vega President of the Constituent Provincial CongressApril 16 – May 10, 1823Republican
Manuel Alvarado e Hidalgo President of the Superior Government Junta1823–1824Republican
Eusebio Rodríguez y Castro President of the Superior Government JuntaJanuary 8 – February 12 1824Republican
Manuel Alvarado e Hidalgo President of the Superior Government JuntaFebruary 12 – September 8 1824Republican


Emperor (1822–1823)


Emperor
Term Notes
Agustín de Iturbide May 19, 1822–
March 19, 1823
During the period of permanence of Costa Rica in the First Mexican Empire, Emperor Agustín de Iturbide was the monarch of the country as of the rest of the Empire. However, imperial sovereignty was not universally recognized. The disputes between imperialists loyal to Iturbide and Republicans seeking full independence led to the first Costa Rican civil war.

President of the Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1839)

Between 1824 and 1838 Costa Rica was a member of the Federal Republic of Central America, and the president was the federal president of the country, although the political influence of the federal government was minimal.


President
Term
(Election)
ProfessionParty
  Liberal Party   Conservative Party
José Matías Delgado 1823
(interim)
Catholic PriestLiberal Party
First Triumvirate: (1823)Liberal Party
Second Triumvirate: 1823–1825Liberal Party
Manuel José Arce 29 April 1825-13 April 1829
(Appointed by Congress)
MilitaryLiberal Party
Mariano Beltranena y Llano 13 April 1829-14 June 1829
(Deposed)
AristocratConservative Party
José Francisco Barrundia 26 June 1829-16 June 1830
(interim)
JournalistLiberal Party
José Francisco Morazán Quezada 16 September 1830-16 September 1834
(1830)
MilitaryLiberal Party
José Cecilio del Valle (1834. Died before assuming office)MilitaryConservative Party
José Gregorio Salazar 16 September 1834-14 February 1835
(interim)
PoliticianLiberal Party
José Francisco Morazán Quezada February 14, 1835 – February 1, 1839
(1835, Costa Rica splits from the Federation).
MilitaryLiberal Party

Heads of State of Costa Rica (1824–1847)

Between 1824 and 1847 and according to the Constitutions of the United Provinces of Central America (1824), of Costa Rica from 1825 and 1844, the chief of the executive branch bore the title of supreme chief or first chief.

Liberals almost completely dominated Costa Rican politics during this period, to the point that many historians call this the "Liberal State". In Costa Rica there was no war between liberals and conservatives as was common in the rest of Latin America and even coup d'etats and de facto governments were mostly between liberal factions. The only conservative president of this period was José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado who did not end his term. Another conservative, Nicolás Ulloa Soto, never took office.ref>Msc. Marvin Carvajal Barrantes.[2]


Heads of the Free State of Costa Rica[1]
ProvinceTerm
(Election)
ProfessionFactionVice Head

  Liberal   Conservative   Militaryy

Juan Mora Fernández
1825 and 1829)
San José 1824–1833Teacher and traderLiberalMariano Montealegre Bustamante (1824–1825)
José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado (1825–1829)
José Rafael de Gallegos y AlvaradoCartago 1833–1835
(1833, resignes)
BusinessmanConservativeManuel Fernández Chacón
Manuel Fernández ChacónSan José interimLandownerLiberalVacant
Nicolás Ulloa SotoHeredia Appointed in 1835 by Congress, never took office.BusinessmanConservative Manuel Fernández Chacón
Braulio Carrillo ColinaCartago 1835–1837
(1835)
LawyerLiberal
Joaquín Mora FernándezSan José March–April 1837
interim
LawyerLiberal
Manuel Aguilar ChacónSan José 1837–1838
(1837, deposed by coup lead by Carrillo)
LawyerLiberalJuan Mora Fernández
Braulio Carrillo ColinaCartago November 14, 1838 – April 8, 1842
(de facto rule, deposed by Morazan)
LawyerLiberalMiguel Carranza Fernández (1838–1841)
Manuel Antonio Bonilla Nava (1841–182)
Francisco Morazán QuesadaBorn in Honduras April 8 – September 11, 1842
(de facto, deposed)
MilitaryLiberalJuan Mora Fernández
Antonio Pinto SoaresBorn in Portugal September 11–27, 1842
(interim)
MilitaryLiberalVacant
José María Alfaro ZamoraAlajuela 27 September 1842-29 November 1844
(interim)
TraderLiberalFrancisco María Oreamuno Bonilla (1843–1844)
Francisco María Oreamuno BonillaCartago November 29, 1844 – June 7, 1846
(1844, deposed by Congress after neglecting the office)
LawyerLiberal José María Castro Madriz (1845–1847)
José María Alfaro ZamoraAlajuela June 7, 1846 – May 1, 1847
(interim)
TraderLiberal

President of the State of Costa Rica (1847–1848)


President of the State of Costa Rica[1]
ProvinceTerm
(Election)
ProfessionFactionVice President

  Liberal

1
José María Alfaro ZamoraAlajuela May 1, 1847 – May 6, 1847
(interim)
TraderLiberalJosé María Castro Madriz
2
José María Castro MadrizSan José May 8, 1847 – August 31, 1848
(1847)
LawyerLiberalJosé María Alfaro Zamora (1847)
Juan Rafael Mora Porras (1847–1848)

President of the Republic of Costa Rica (1848–1948)

Current title of the head of state and government since the Constitution of 1847. The historiography tends to divide this historical period in two, the previous one to the civil war of 1948 and the subsequent one to it. During the first period from 1847 to 1948, the liberals almost completely dominated Costa Rican politics. The liberal hegemony only broke briefly with the government of Vicente Herrera Zeledón (who however had been elected by the liberals) who ruled de facto for just over a year between 1876 and 1877. Even the dictator Federico Tinoco whose dictatorship lasted two years was also liberal. In addition, Costa Rican politics was then (and continues to be to some extent) eminently personalist, so political parties such as Civil, National, Peliquista and Republican revolved mostly around leaders and political figures and not ideologies although, in general terms, they usually be diffusely associated with liberalism.

Costa Rican liberalism was also closely linked to the coffee-growing oligarchy and an important sector of the aristocracy. Attempts to create party alternatives not only formally ideological but more to the left were the Reform Party of Father Jorge Volio Jiménez, strongly influenced by the Catholic social teaching and Christian socialism and Manuel Mora Valverde's Workers and Peasants Block (which precisely it would break with the Reform Party after Volio's alliance with the liberal Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno of the Republican Party) that would lead to the Costa Rican Communist Party. However, even after the war, an important influence of liberal thinking could be seen in the presidents emanated from opposition coalitions as well as within the Social Christian Unity Party.

The National Republican Party led several liberals to the presidency, however, it would be under the government of perhaps its most famous president Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia that the reforms known as the Social Guarantees would be given for the benefit of the poorest classes and would be one of the triggers of the war of 48.[3]


Presidents of the Republic of Costa Rica[1][4]
ProvinceTerm
(Election)
ProfessionFaction/PartyVice President

  Liberal   Olympus   Military   Constitutional Party   Civil Party   Republican Party   National Union Party   National   National Republican Party

1 José María Castro MadrizSan José August 31, 1848 – November 15, 1849
(1847, deposed)
LawyerLiberalManuel José Carazo Bonilla (1848–1849)
Juan Rafael Mora Porras (1849)
1.a Miguel Mora PorrasSan José November 16–26, 1849
(interim)
TraderLiberalVacant
2 Juan Rafael Mora PorrasSan José November 26 – December 30, 1849 – August 14, 1859
(1849, 1853 and 1859. Deposed by Montealegre.)
EmpresarioLiberalFrancisco María Oreamuno Bonilla† (1853–1856)
Vicente Aguilar Cubero (1856–1857)
Rafael García-Escalante Nava (1857–1859)
3 José María Montealegre FernándezSan José 14 August 1859-8 May 1863
(de facto after a coup, later elected in 1860)
MedicLiberal Abolished
Alternates appointed by Congress.
4 Jesús Jiménez ZamoraCartago 8 May 1863-8 May 1866
(1863)
MedicLiberal
5 José María Castro MadrizSan José May 8, 1866 – November 1, 1868
(1866, deposed by Jiménez.)
LawyerLiberal
6 Jesús Jiménez ZamoraCartago November 1, 1868 – April 27, 1870
(de facto after a coup, elected as single candidate in 1869, deposed by coup lead by Guardia.)
MedicLiberal
7 Bruno Carranza RamírezSan José April 27 – August 8, 1870
(interim, appointed by Guardia.)
MedicLiberal
8 Tomás Guardia GutiérrezGuanacaste August 8, 1870 – May 8, 1876
(de facto after coup, elected in 1872).)
MilitaryLiberal
9 Aniceto Esquivel SáenzCartago May 8, 1876 – July 30, 1876
(1876 as Guardia's puppet, deposed by Guardia).
LawyerLiberal
10 Vicente Herrera ZeledónSan José 30 July 1876-23 September 1877
(Appointed by Guardia, resigns due to health issues.)
LawyerConservative
11 Tomás Guardia GutiérrezGuanacaste September 23, 1877 – July 6, 1882
(ruled as a dictator, died in office.)
MilitaryLiberal
12 Saturnino Lizano GutiérrezPuntarenas July 6 – August 10, 1882
(interim)
TraderLiberal
13 Próspero Fernández OreamunoSan José August 10, 1882 – March 12, 1885
(1882. Died in office)
PhilosopherOlympus
14 Bernardo Soto AlfaroAlajuela March 12, 1885 – November 7, 1889
(interim later elected in 1886, resigns.)
Military and lawyerOlympus
14.a Carlos Durán CartínSan José November 7, 1889 – May 8, 1890
(interim)
MedicLiberal
15 José Rodríguez ZeledónSan José 8 May 1890-8 May 1894
(1889)
LawyerConstitutional Party
16 Rafael Yglesias CastroSan José 8 May 1894-8 May 1902
(1894 and 1897–1898)
BusinessmanCivil Party
17 Ascensión Esquivel IbarraGuanacaste 8 May 1902-8 May 1906
(1901–1902)
LawyerNational Union Party
18 Cleto González VíquezHeredia 8 May 1906-8 May 1910
(1905–1906)
LawyerNational Party
19 Ricardo Jiménez OreamunoCartago 8 May 1910-8 May 1914
(1909–1910)
LawyerRepublican Party
20 Alfredo González FloresHeredia May 8, 1914 – January 27, 1917
(Appointed by Congress, deposed in the 1917 Costa Rican coup d'état lead by Tinoco).
LawyerRepublican Party
21 Federico Alberto Tinoco GranadosSan José January 27, 1917 – August 20, 1919
(ruled after coup, elected as single candidate in 1917, deposed by popular uprising).
BusinessmanPeliquista Party
22 Juan Bautista Quirós SeguraSan José August 20, 1919 – September 2, 1919
(interim, forced to resign).
EmpresarioPeliquista Party
23 Francisco Aguilar BarqueroCartago 2 September 1919-8 May 1920
(interim).
TeacherRepublican Party
24 Julio Acosta GarcíaAlajuela 8 May 1920-8 May 1924
(1919)
DiplomaticConstitutional Party
25 Ricardo Jiménez OreamunoCartago May 8, 1924 – May 8, 1928
(1923)
LawyerRepublican Party
26 Cleto González VíquezHeredia 8 May 1928-8 May 1932
(1928)
LawyerNational Union Party
27 Ricardo Jiménez OreamunoCartago May 8, 1932 – May 8, 1936
(1932)
LawyerNational Republican Party
28 León Cortés CastroAlajuela 8 May 1936-8 May 1940
(1936)
Teacher and lawyerNational Republican Party
29 Rafael Ángel Calderón GuardiaSan José 8 May 1940-8 May 1944
(1940)
MedicNational Republican Party
30 Teodoro Picado MichalskiSan José May 8, 1944 – April 19, 1948
(1944, deposed by civil war).
TeacherNational Republican Party
30.a Santos León HerreraSan José April 19 – May 8, 1948
(interim).
EngineerNational Republican Party

Founding Junta of the Second Republic (1948–1949)

After the rupture of the constitutional order in 1948 when the third and last Costa Rican civil war broke out, the victorious side formed by the National Liberation Movement exercised de facto power for 18 months under the self-appointed Founding Junta of the Second Republic chaired by José Figueres Ferrer who proclaimed the beginning of the Second Costa Rican Republic.

Junta Fundadora de la Segunda RepúblicaTermParty
José Figueres Ferrer, Benjamín Odio Odio, Gonzalo Facio Segreda, Alberto Martén Chavarría, Uladislao Gámez Solano, Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich, Bruce Masís Dibiasi, Raúl Blanco Cervantes, Benjamín Núñez Vargas, Edgar Cardona Quirós, Daniel Oduber Quirós May 8, 1948 – November 8, 1949 National Liberation Movement

President of the Republic of Costa Rica (1949-today)

José Figueres would hand over the Executive Power to Otilio Ulate Blanco on November 8, 1949 as the alleged winner of the 1948 elections whose annulment by the government of Teodoro Picado and Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia caused the civil war of the same year. A National Constituent Assembly was also convened that drafted the 1949 Constitution, still in force, and also created the official positions of First and Second Vice presidents of the Republic.

The National Liberation Party, of social democratic ideology and led by the war-winning leader José Figueres Ferrer would become the main political force after 48, but both Calderonistas and liberals would remain active allying with each other, which would allow the governments of Mario Echandi Jiménez and José Joaquín Trejos Fernández. Following the merger of almost all the antiliberacionista opposition grouped in the Unity Coalition in the Social Christian Unity Party in 1983, this party and the National Liberation would form a solid bipartisanism so that all presidents between 1982 and 2014 belonged to one of these two parties. It is in 2014 that bipartisanship is broken with the coming to power of Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, first president of the post-bipartisan stage and belonging to a party that was not linked to the two major traditional political tendencies (liberationism and calderonism) the Citizens' Action Party that had already been the main opposition force for two previous periods.[5]


Presidents of the Republic of de Costa Rica[1][4]
ProvinceTerm
(Election)
ProfessionPartyVice presidents

  National Union Party   National Liberation Party   Social Christian Unity Party   Citizens' Action Party

31 Otilio Ulate BlancoAlajuela 8 November 1949-8 May 1953
(1948)
JournalistNational Union PartyAlberto Oreamuno Flores and Alfredo Volio Mata
32 José Figueres FerrerAlajuela 8 May 1953-8 May 1958
(1953)
Self-taughtNational Liberation PartyRaúl Blanco Cervantes and Fernando Esquivel Bonilla
33 Mario Echandi JiménezSan José 8 May 1958-8 May 1962
(1958)
BusinessmanNational Union PartyAbelardo Bonilla Baldares and José Joaquín Peralta Esquivel
34 Francisco José Orlich BolmarcichAlajuela 8 May 1962-8 May 1966
(1962)
AccountantNational Liberation PartyRaúl Blanco Cervantes and Carlos Sáenz Herrera
35 José Joaquín Trejos FernándezSan José 8 May 1966-8 May 1970
(1966)
College professor, chemist and mathematician National Unification CoalitionJorge Vega Rodríguez and Virgilio Calvo Sánchez
36 José Figueres FerrerAlajuela 8 May 1970-8 May 1974
(1970)
Self-taughtNational Liberation Party]Manuel Aguilar Bonilla and Jorge Rossi Chavarría
37 Daniel Oduber QuirósSan José 8 May 1974-8 May 1978
(1974)
Philosopher, lawyer and poetNational Liberation PartyCarlos Manuel Castillo Morales and Fernando Guzmán Mata
38
Rodrigo Carazo Odio
Cartago 8 May 1978-8 May 1982
(1978)
EconomistUnity CoalitionRodrigo Altmann Ortiz and José Miguel Alfaro Rodríguez
39 Luis Alberto Monge ÁlvarezAlajuela 8 May 1982-8 May 1986
(1982)
Farmer and trade union leaderNational Liberation PartyAlberto Fait Lizano and Armando Aráuz Aguilar
40 Óscar Arias SánchezHeredia 8 May 1986-8 May 1990
(1986)
Businessman and lawyerNational Liberation PartyJorge Manuel Dengo Obregón and Victoria Garrón Orozco
41 Rafael Ángel Calderón FournierBorn in Nicaragua 8 May 1990-8 May 1994
(1990)
LawyerSocial Christian Unity PartyGermán Serrano Pinto and Arnoldo López Echandi
42 José María Figueres OlsenSan José 8 May 1994-8 May 1998
(1994)
EngineerNational Liberation PartyRodrigo Oreamuno Blanco and Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis
43 Miguel Ángel Rodríguez EcheverríaSan José 8 May 1998-8 May 2002
(1998)
Businessman and economistSocial Christian Unity PartyAstrid Fischel Volio and Elizabeth Odio Benito
44 Abel Pacheco de la EspriellaSan José 8 May 2002-8 May 2006
(2002)
PsychiatristSocial Christian Unity PartyLineth Saborío Chaverri and Luis Fishman Zonzinski
45 Óscar Arias SánchezHeredia 8 May 2006-8 May 2010
(2006)
Businessman and lawyerNational Liberation PartyLaura Chinchilla Miranda and Kevin Casas Zamora
46 Laura Chinchilla MirandaSan José 8 May 2010-8 May 2014
(2010)
Political scientistNational Liberation PartyAlfio Piva Mesén and Luis Liberman Ginsburg
47 Luis Guillermo Solís RiveraSan José 8 May 2014-8 May 2018
(2014)
College professor, political scientist, sociologist, historianCitizens' Action PartyHelio Fallas Venegas and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría
48 Carlos Alvarado QuesadaSan José May 8, 2018-Incumbent
(2018)
Writer, journalist, political scientistCitizens' Action PartyEpsy Campbell Barr and Marvin Rodríguez Cordero

References

  1. Obregón, Clotilde (2002). Nuestros gobernantes: verdades del pasado para comprender el futuro. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica. ISBN 9789977677019. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  2. La independencia de Costa Rica (2011) extraído en 2013
  3. http://geografiahistoriasecundaria.blogspot.com/p/la-crisis-de-la-republica-liberal-1914.html
  4. Jara Murillo, Carla Victoria (2007). "EL MENSAJE PRESIDENCIAL COSTARRICENSE DESDE LA ETNOGRAFÍA DE LA COMUNICACIÓN". Filología y Lingüística XXXIII (2): 141–178, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  5. http://www.primeraplana.or.cr/app/cms/www/index.php?pk_articulo=3694
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