Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
President of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría (born 9 January 1940) is a Costa Rican economist, lawyer, businessman and politician who served as President of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002.[1] He was minister of planning from 1968 to 1970 and minister of the presidency in 1970 during the administration of Jose Joaquin Trejos Fernandez (1966 - 1970); 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,[2] but this ruling was later reversed in a December 2012 decision by an appeals court, which found him innocent of all charges.[3]
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez | |
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8th Secretary General of the Organization of American States | |
In office 15 September 2004 – 15 October 2004 | |
Preceded by | César Gaviria |
Succeeded by | Luigi R. Einaudi acting |
43rd President of Costa Rica | |
In office 8 May 1998 – 8 May 2002 | |
Vice President | Astrid Fischel Volio Elizabeth Odio Benito |
Preceded by | José María Figueres |
Succeeded by | Abel Pacheco |
Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica | |
In office 1 May 1990 (1990-05-01) – september 1993 | |
Preceded by | Fernando Volio Jiménez |
Succeeded by | Alberto Cañas Escalante |
Constituency | San José (1st Office) |
Minister of the Presidency of Costa Rica | |
In office 1 April – 8 May 1970 | |
President | José Joaquín Trejos |
Preceded by | Diego Trejos Fonseca |
Succeeded by | Carlos Coto Albán |
Director of the Office of National Planning | |
In office 1967–1970 | |
President | José Joaquín Trejos |
Preceded by | Alberto Di Mare Fuscado |
Succeeded by | Marco López Agüero |
Personal details | |
Born | (1940-01-09) 9 January 1940 (age 84) San José, Costa Rica |
Political party | PUSC |
Spouse | Lorena Clare Facio |
Education | University of Costa Rica University of California, Berkeley, (MA) (PHD) |
Signature | |
Rodríguez came to the presidency as the candidate of the social Christian party (Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) with an agenda that included the opening of state-run monopolies in insurance and telecommunications, the rationalization of the public sector including increasing the role of the private sector in public infrastructure, trade liberalization, and the expansion and modernization of the social welfare system. The reforms of the insurance and telecom sectors generated massive protests and were subsequently abandoned, but were later implemented when Costa Rica became part of the DR-CAFTA (Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement) in 2009.