The politics of Costa Rica take place in a framework of a presidential, representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and their cabinet, and the President of Costa Rica is both the head of state and head of government. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly. The president and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for four-year terms. The judiciary operates independently from the executive and the legislature, but is involved in the political process. Costa Rica has a strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Voting is compulsory de jure, but this is not enforced.
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría is a Costa Rican economist, lawyer, businessman and politician who served as President of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002. He was minister of planning from 1968 to 1970 and minister of the presidency in 1970 during the administration of Jose Joaquin Trejos Fernandez ; member of the board of the Costa Rican Central Bank from 1966 to 1969; congressman from 1990 to 1993, serving as president of the Legislative Assembly during the 1991 to 1992 period; and was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 2004. He voluntarily stepped down from this post to return to his country to face allegations of financial wrongdoing during his presidential tenure in Costa Rica. On April 27 of 2011 he was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but this ruling was later reversed in a December 2012 decision by an appeals court, which found him innocent of all charges.
The Citizens' Action Party is a political party in Costa Rica.
Johnny Francisco Araya Monge is a Costa Rican politician. He was the mayor of the country's capital San José from 1998 to 2013 and again since 2016. He was also the co-president of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) from 2010 to 2013. He is a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN) and was a presidential candidate in the 2014 election.
Epsy Alejandra Campbell Barr is a Costa Rican politician and economist who served as the Vice-president of Costa Rica from 8 May 2018 to 8 May 2022. She is the first woman of African descent to be vice president in Costa Rica and in Latin America.
The Joint Social Welfare Institute (IMAS) is an autonomous institution with legal status in Costa Rica for welfare. It was created under Act 4760 of April 30, 1971, which put it into operation from May 8 of that year. Its purpose is to serve the population suffering poverty in Costa Rica through the provision of grants and programs.
Events in the year 2013 in Costa Rica.
Events in the year 2014 in Costa Rica.
General elections were held in Costa Rica on Sunday, 2 February 2014 to elect a new president, two vice presidents, and 57 Legislative Assembly lawmakers. In accordance with Article 132 of the constitution, incumbent President Laura Chinchilla Miranda was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term.
Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera 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).
Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría is a Costa Rica politician, who served as the nation's 2nd Vice President, under Luis Guillermo Solís 2014–2018, and as Ambassador in Spain, under Carlos Alvarado. Her political career is dedicated to issues of feminism, human rights, and public health policy. Previously a cabinet minister and deputy, Chacón has also served on numerous committees and conferences on the national and international level.
Sandra Cauffman is a Costa Rican-American specialist in electrical engineering and physics. She is known for her work at NASA in different projects. Her profile has been highlighted by UN Women for being a positive example for women, especially, youth and children. Cauffman worked for 25 years at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD in missions such as the mission to Mars MAVEN, and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite GOES-R. She is currently the Deputy Director of the Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She served as the Deputy Director for the Earth Science Division from May 2016 - October 2021. She served as Acting Director in the Earth Science Division from February 2019 to June 2020. Cauffman started as a contractor with NASA on February 1, 1988, and became a NASA employee February 11, 1991. Cauffman is the first Costa Rican woman to lead a Mars-related mission.
Pedro Miguel Muñoz Fonseca is a Costa Rican lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as president of the Social Christian Unity Party from July 2014 to September 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Costa Rica was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Costa Rica on 6 March 2020, after a 49-year-old woman tourist from New York, United States, tested positive for the virus.
Thelma Darkings Bucknam is a Costa Rican actress and television presenter. She is known for hosting the Costa Rican talk show programs Conectados and previously Entre nos. Her film credits include Noi siamo angeli (1997), Caribe (2004), and El último comandante (2010).
General elections were held in Costa Rica on 6 February 2022, to elect the president, two vice-presidents, and all 57 deputies of the Legislative Assembly. As none of the presidential nominees obtained at least 40% of the votes, a runoff was held on 3 April 2022, between the top two candidates, José María Figueres and Rodrigo Chaves Robles.
Carmen Geannina Dinarte Romero is a Costa Rican politician serving as the 30th and current minister of the Presidency of Costa Rica since 2020. A member of the Citizens' Action Party, she served as vice minister of SMEs and Entrepreneurship between 2014 and 2017 and as minister of Economy, Industry and Commerce between 2017 and 2018 in the Solís Rivera administration, and as minister of Labor and Social Security in the Alvarado Quesada administration from 2018 to 2020. Dinarte became the youngest person to hold the Ministry of the Presidency, as well as the third woman and the first person of Guanacastecan origin to do so, when she was appointed by president Carlos Alvarado Quesada in December 2020.
María Lineth de la Trinidad Saborío Chaverri is a Costa Rican politician.
A Just Costa Rica is a Costa Rican political party. It nominated engineer Rolando Araya Monge as a presidential candidate for the 2022 Costa Rican general election.
Beginning on the night (UTC-6:00) of April 17, 2022, a ransomware attack began against nearly 30 institutions of the government of Costa Rica, including its Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT), the National Meteorological Institute, state internet service provider RACSA, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Fund for Social Development and Family Allowances, and the Administrative Board of the Municipal Electricity Service of Cartago.
