Presidency

While finishing his Master in Public Administration at Harvard University, José María Figueres announced his candidacy for the 1994 presidential elections in Costa Rica.

After a primary process in which he faced five other pre-candidates, José María consolidated Liberación Nacional behind his candidacy, and went on to win the general election in 1994.

As President of Costa Rica, José María undertook important transformations, which opened up new opportunities for all Costa Ricans. Very much aware of his responsibility to build new competitive advantages with which Costa Rica would take advantage of the process of globalization, he adopted an overall strategy of shifting towards Sustainable Development. Within this strategy, he focused on five principal objectives during his presidency:

First, President Figueres committed to advance a Costa Rica somewhat divided by privileges and poverty towards a Costa Rica integrated by opportunities for all its citizenry. To accomplish this, he reorganized the institutions managing social programs and was able to introduce higher degrees of efficiency, allowing the weakest segments of the population and the traditional middle class to benefit from economic growth. He passed a Constitutional Amendment requiring 6% of GNP to be invested in public education (primary and high school level).

Second, Figueres was committed to advance from a sleepy economy towards an intelligent integration into the world economy. With careful planning in government monetary and fiscal decisions and within the productive structure, his administration was able to attract a cluster of high tech industries, which today has become the leading exporting sector of the national economy. José María personally led the effort to attract INTEL to Costa Rica – the only INTEL investment in Latin America.

Third, José María was committed to advance from a country that sometimes neglected of its natural resources toward a society with a higher awareness of the need to protect Costa Rica’s environment and natural resources. Environmental policies were a top priority during the four years of his presidency, with great emphasis on the implementation of the international legislation on climate change and biodiversity. His government passed the first tax on carbon emissions in 1995.

Fourth, President Figueres was committed to eliminate the inefficiencies and weaknesses of government management and advance towards a more strategic and modern state. His government closed down some entire institutions, implemented modernization programs in others, and created a few new programs based on modern needs.

Fifth, Figueres envisioned the need to evolve from a formal democracy to a more advanced formula for a democratic regime. In order to achieve this, he strengthened the legitimacy of public institutions, widened the possibilities of governance, and consolidated democratic foundations.

In sum, President Figueres implemented an overall policy based on the principles of sustainability in order to become increasingly competitive in the process of economic globalization. By strategically combining sound macroeconomic indicators, social investment in human development, and an active alliance with nature, he left a country better prepared to face the challenges of a highly competitive global economy. However, by the end of his four year term, the economy was growing at a rate of 8% per year, and direct foreign investment surpassed 5% of GNP.

As a regional leader, Figueres promoted alliances to initiate new approaches, realizing the need for the region to be more competitive and productive in the global marketplace, but in a way that balanced economic, social and environmental progress. His policies based on the concept of sustainable development were welcomed in the rest of Central America. In 1994, the presidents of the region signed the Central American Alliance for Sustainable Development, which created a new model for regional integration.

President Figueres worked hard to achieve a regional close working relationship with academic institutions such as Harvard. In cooperation with Michael Porter and Jeffrey Sachs, Figueres became the champion of a regional effort to make Central America a more competitive and dynamic region. This effort lead to the establishment of CLADS (Centro Latinoamericano para la Competitividad y el Desarrollo Sostenible http://www.incae.ac.cr/ES/clacds/).

After the 1998 (1) presidential election a carefully planned transition took place resulting in a well-organized hand over to new President Miguel Angel Rodriguez. As a result of the sound economic footing Figueres had established during his Presidency, President Rodriguez’ Administration became the first in the last fifty years not to need new taxes.

(1) The Costa Rican Constitution stipulates that Presidents can only serve one term. This, however, was amended in 2003, allowing former Presidents to again stand for election after a minimum of two periods out of office.