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Costa Rica Politics General Introduction

Costa Rica is a democratic republic and it’s system of government is very similar to that of the United States of America. Under the 1949 constitution, all citizens are guaranteed equality before the law, the right to own property, the right of petititon and assembly, freedom of speech and the right of habeas corpus.

There are three branches of government: the Executive, which consists of the president, two vice presidents and advisors, the Legislative Assembly, with 57 individually elected deputies, and the Judicial Branch, which consists of civil, criminal, appellate and constitutional courts. The President and members of the Legislative Assembly are elected for four-year terms but the president can't run for reelection. The two main parties are the National Liberation Party (PLN) and the United Social Christian Party (PUSC).

The current president from 2002 until 2006 is Abel Pacheco de la Espriella

Costa Rica Politics

Costa Rica held a presidential election on 5 February 2006. The preliminary official report, after 88.45% of the vote counted, showed the result for President of the Republic almost tied between Óscar Arias with 40.51% of the vote and Ottón Solís with 40.29%. Given the small difference of only 3250 votes, the Superior Electoral Tribunal announced that a manual count of all the votes would start immediately and no official winner would be announced until that process was completed, approximately two weeks after the election.

Although electoral law does provide for a run-off vote in presidential elections (a mechanism first used in the election of Abel Pacheco in 2002), the rules state that a second round of voting is to be held only if no candidate manages to secure at least 40% of the vote, which was not the case in this instance.

The presidential election was held concurrently with elections to the Legislative Assembly, the country's 57-member unicameral national legislature.

On 7 March, the official results showed Arias beat contender Otton Solis by 18,169 votes (1.2% of valid votes cast).

Costa Rica is a democratic republic with more than 115 years of democracy and a strong constitution. It is seen as one of the most stable countries in Latin America. Costa Rica has avoided the violence that has plagued Central America; it is seen as an example of political stability in the region, and is referred to as the "Switzerland of the Americas". Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice presidents and a cabinet designated by the president. The president, vice presidents, and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for 4-year terms. A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limited presidents and deputies to one term, although a deputy may run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term. An amendment to the constitution to allow second presidential terms was proposed and also the constitutionality of the prohibition against a second presidential term has been challenged in the courts. In April 2003 the prohibition was officially recognized, in a highly polemic resolution, as anti-constitutional allowing Óscar Arias (Nobel Peace Prize, 1987) to run for President a second time in the 2006 elections and winning them on a very tight elections. Arias is a promoter of free trade and supports the free trade agreement with the United States which is the source of a great controversy that might develop in protests around the country in the upcoming months. Costa Rica uses a form of proportional representation to elect its national legislative body.

Governors appointed by the president head the country's seven provinces, but they exercise little power. There are no provincial legislatures. Autonomous state agencies enjoy considerable operational independence; they include the telecommunications and electrical power monopoly, the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly, and the social security agency. Costa Rica has no military by constitution but maintains domestic Police and armed National Guard forces for internal security.

Military of Costa Rica

On December 1, 1948, president José Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica abolished the country's army after victory in the civil war in that year. In a ceremony in the Cuartel Bellavista, Figueres broke a wall with a mallet symbolizing the end of Costa Rica's military spirit. In 1949 the abolition of the military was introduced in the Article 12 of the 1949 Constitution. José Figueres Ferrer breaking a wall of the Cuartel Bellavista symbolizing the abolition of the Military Enlarge José Figueres Ferrer breaking a wall of the Cuartel Bellavista symbolizing the abolition of the Military The budget previously dedicated to the military now is dedicated to security, education and culture; the country maintains armed Polices Guard forces. The museum Museo Nacional de Costa Rica was placed in the Cuartel Bellavista as a symbol of commitment to culture.

In 1986, president Oscar Arias Sánchez declared December 1 as the Día de la Abolición del Ejército (Military abolition day) with law #8115.

Unlike its neighbours, Costa Rica has not endured a civil war since.

Administrative divisions

Provinces of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is divided into 7 provinces:

1. San José (Capital) (political, technological and economical center of Costa Rica)
2. Alajuela (central; north of capital San José, agriculture and industrial manufacturing)
3. Cartago (former Costa Rican Provincial capital during colonial times)
4. Heredia (central; north of capital, industrial manufacturing)
5. Guanacaste (north-west, important touristic and agricultural area)
6. Puntarenas (along most of the Pacific coast, with a large bulge in the south-west and a smaller one at the northern end at both sides of the Golfo de Nicoya, where the eponymous capital is located)
7. Limón (Caribbean coast, agricultural and eco-tourism area)

Economy

Historically, Costa Rica's economy has been based on agriculture, including the production of coffee, bananas, pineapples, and ornamentals, but in recent times ecotourism, electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing and software development have become the prime industries. Costa Rica's location in the Central American isthmus provides easy access to American markets as it has the same time zone as the central part of the United States and direct ocean access to Europe and Asia.

The economy has been expanding for Costa Rica in part because the Government had implemented a seven year plan of expansion in the high tech industry. The central government offers tax exemptions for those who are willing to invest in the country. High levels of education among its residents make the country an attractive investing location. Several global high tech corporations have already started developing in the area exporting goods including chip manufacturer Intel and pharmaceutical companies such as Procter & Gamble and Glaxo Smith Kline. Trade with South East Asia and Russia has boomed during 2004 and 2005, and the country is expected to obtain full Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) membership by 2007 (the country became an observer in 2004).

For the fiscal year 2005 the country showed a government deficit of 2.1%, internal revenue increased an 18%, exports increased a 12.8% and the number of visiting tourists increased a 19%, reaching 1.5 million people. Revised economic figures released by the Central Bank indicate that economic growth stood at 5 %, nevertheless the country faced high inflation (14%) and a trade deficit of 5.2%. For 2006 the economy is expected to grow a 6.8%

The unit of currency is the colón (CRC), which trades around 500 to the U.S. dollar; currently about 600 to the euro. For 2007 a new currency exchange system will allow the value of the CRC colón to float between two bands as done previously by Chile. The idea is that by doing so the Central Bank will be able to better tackle inflation and discourage the use of the US greenback.