Oscar Arias, Costa Rica, 1987
From WolfWikis
Contents |
Oscar Arias
Background Information on Oscar Arias
Oscar Arias Sanchéz was born on September 13, 1941 in Heredia, Costa Rica to one of the richest coffee-growing families. Oscar Arias was seven years old when Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to eliminate its standing army; Oscar Arias grew up in Costa Rica without the military there to guarantee security. After studying in San Jose, Arias came to the United States in order to further his education and to study medicine at Boston University. While at school here in America, Arias became aroused by the political debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Arias soon realized that politics fascinated him more than medicine and so he dropped out of Boston University. While still in Boston, he wrote a letter to John F. Kennedy titled "This is How I See It" and in it he discussed the Central American view of relations with the United States.
Oscar Arias returned to Costa Rica in 1969 where he taught political science at the University of Costa Rica. Three years later, President José Figueres Ferrer appointed him minister of national planning and political economy. In 1975 he was elected International Secretary; in 1978 his hometown elected him as their representative in the national legislative assembly. Arias was elected General Secretary of the National Liberation Party in 1981; that same year he began working for the presidential campaign of Luis Alberto Monge, who would become the president of Costa Rica in 1982. In 1985 Oscar Arias was nominated for president. He was the peace candidate who wanted regional peace based on agreement and not the growth of war. His campaign slogan in 1984 was "Roofs, jobs, and peace!". In May of 1986 he was inaugurated.
The Crisis
Around the time of Arias' inauguration, the United States was supporting the contras who roamed through northern Costa Rica, Cuba and the Soviet Union were aiding the Sandinistas, and Costa Ricans themselves were considering an increase in power in the military. The militarization of the region caused by the United States-Nicaraguan conflict threatened to damage Costa Rica's belief of nonagression.
Costa Rican democracy was also unbalanced due to Central American fugitives and rebels living in the country. More than 125,000 Nicaraguans sought the need for asylums in Costa Rica after the Sandinista revolution, in addition to large numbers of Salvadorans and Guatemalans. These groups generated problems for their country as they continued their struggles against their own governments. San Jose, Costa Rica set the stage for terrorist activities directed against other countries, especially El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Oscar Arias' Presidency
As president, Oscar Arias fought for peace in Central America. He devised a plan that he hoped would restore full democracy and freedom of the medias in every Central American country. As a result of this plan, all outside aid to rebels in the region would stop and governments would have to negotiate only with unarmed groups within their borders. On February 17, 1987, Arias summoned the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Together, they agreed upon these standards:
- All military aid to the region should stop
- There should be an immediate cease-fire and an amnesty for political prisoners
- Free elections should be held as soon as possible
- Human rights should be respected
- Military forces reduced
It was also agreed upon at this meeting that each country would create a National Reconciliation Commission to settle disputes and foreign observers would keep an eye on elections and human rights. Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, was not in attendance, but within a month, he too, accepted the agreement. In the United States, President Reagan didn't favor the new, proposed peace agreement because it would destroy the contras.
The Arias Peace Plan
Seven months later, on August 5, 1987, Arias once more gathered the presidents from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua in Esquipulas, Guatemala. Two days later, on August 7, the five men had developed what is known today as the Arias Peace Plan. The plan had set forth these conditions:
- Amnesty would protect life and freedom in all five countries, and irregular armies would free all people in their custody
- When a group accepts the amnesty provision the group would have the opportunity to discuss any issues by the government in question
- A cease-fire "within the constitutional framework" would be accomplished by "all necessary action"
- Every government would agree to "promote an authentic, pluralist and democratic process of participation," which would include "complete freedom for television, radio, and the press...full political party pluralism," and the end of any emergency decrees or martial law
- As soon as this is done, "free, pluralist, and honest elections shall have to be held for representatives of a Central American Parliament" in every country. Elections would be monitored by outside observers
- The five governments would have the authority to stop anyone from "openly or secretly provid[ing] military, logistic, financial, promotional, human resources, armaments, ammunitions, and equipment aid to the irregular forces or to the rebels."
- None of the countries would allow their territory to be used to help overthrow other governments
- An international committee of verification would follow the progress of the peace plan; the peace plan would have a series of deadlines that must be met to keep all the participating countries
Oscar Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 7, 1987 for his work on the Arias Peace Plan. Oscar came to represent a commitment to providing personal freedoms, putting a limit on the amount of military supplies and power, fighting poverty, and promoting education.
Oscar Arias' Work Today
In 1988, a year after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Arias founded the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. The foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to establishing "just and peaceful societies in Central America." There are three programs within the organization designed to promote gender equality, strengthen "the participation and action of civil society," and resolve military conflicts in the developing world. The three programs are:
- The Center for Human Progress to promote equal opportunities for women in all sectors of Central American society
- The Center for Organized Participation to foster change-oriented philanthropy in Latin America
- The Center for Peace and Reconciliation to work for demilitarization and conflict resolution in the developing world
In 1995, Oscar Arias was asked in an interview, "If you had one thing that you could say to all the young people of the world, what would it be?" "I think the most important thing for the future generations is to understand that it is necessary to have ideals, to dream, to live a life of principles. It is necessary to understand that the brotherhood is more important than the self. It is necessary to comprehend that the problems of a neighbor in some way affect us, too."
Annotated Bibliography
- Hunt, Scott A. The Future of Peace: on the Front Lines with the World's Great Peacemakers. New York: HarperCollins, Inc., 2002. 216-224.
This book was very resourceful. It gave me information about Arias' political campaign and the events that brought about the creation of the Arias Peace Plan. Part of the book included an interview which did not deal with my topic.
- Dario, Moreno. The Struggle for Peace in Central America. Gainesville: University P of Florida, 1994. 78-94.
This book gave very specific details about the crisis in Costa Rica during the beginning of Oscar Arias' presidency. It also gave detailed information about the Arias Peace Plan. I feel that although it gave excellent information, it was a little hard to read because there was just so much going on in only a few pages.
- Hopkins, Jeffrey, ed. The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss Human Rights, Conflict and Reconciliation. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2000. 115-118.
This book gave me a short biography of Oscar Arias' life, starting with his presidency and ending with some of his recent works. The rest of the section about Oscar Arias was a discussion between Arias and other Nobel Peace Prize winners from other countries. This information didn't help me because it wasn't talking about Costa Rica or Oscar Arias.
- Rolbein, Seth. Nobel Costa Rica: a Timely Report on Our Peaceful Pro-Yankee, Central American Neighbor. New York: St. Martin's P, 1989. 206-210.
This book helped me find out information about the contents of the Arias Peace Plan. This book didn't go into much detail about other things such as his presidency or his childhood.
This website was very helpful and offered me great information related to Oscar Arias' personal background, policital career, his Arias Peace Plan, and the continuation of his work today. I wish this website had given more specific information instead of just generalizing his life.
This website offered me good, but brief details about Oscar Arias' life. I couldn't find a great deal of information about him, but it gave me a general idea of his accomplishments.