Rodrigo Carazo Odio
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Rodrigo José Ramón Francisco de Jesús Carazo Odio served as President of Costa Rica from 1978 to 1982.
Before serving as president, Carazo was the Central Bank's Director and General Manager for RECOPE (Costa Rica's nationalized oil refinery business)
During his term he founded the Peace University, an institution focused and dedicated on the study and promotion of world peace. His administration also concentrated on and promoted the country's petro-chemical industry and even began exploration and digging near the Talama Mountain Ridge in search for petroleum. In the engery sector, his government inaugurated the hydroelectric plant in Lake Arenal. The Carazo administration also regulated the excavation of gold in the southern region of the country.
On the international front, Carazo had to deal mainly with the radical changes the neighboring country of Nicaragua was going through. Nicaragua had been under the control of the Somoza dictatorship for decades and Costa Rica had always opposed his rule. As the Sandinista movement rose in the 1970s, Nicaragua was faced with civil unrest and small armed clashes. Costa Rica's government supported any power that went against Somoza, thus they gave their backing to the Sandinista insurgents. Many of the battles that took place in the Nicaraguan region bordering Costa Rica, spilled onto Costa Rican soil. Carazo's government warned Somoza to stay on his side of the border several times. The government also began plans on creating a defense force to fight off any Somoza attempt to attack to invade Costa Rican territory. The attacks finally ended in 1979 once the Sandinistas took control of the country and Somoza was exiled. The government received a strong backlash from the public and the opposing political leaders claiming that Carazo had failed to protect Costa Rica's sovereignty. Adding insult to injury, Carazo's government allowed three U.S. helicopters to touch down on national soil to facilitate Somoza's escape from Nicaragua, sending the President's critics on a political bashing rampage, calling the matter a disrespect to national sovereignty. Later, in 1982, after the Sandinistas in power had begun a Communist regime, with U.S. backing, the Central American Democratic Community was formed in San José. Its aim was to isolate Nicaragua from the rest of Central America as long as they had a Communist regime in power. Another big move was in 1981, when Carazo's government broke off all diplomatic ties with Castro's Cuba.
During his presidency, the world was going through a general economic recession. His government was plagued by instability and social unrest. Carazo's government economic orientation was very unpopular, following the prescribed "recipes" of the International Monetary Fund. Most of these economic policies went against the traditional economic policies Costa Rica had followed since the early 1950s. His political position and reforms clashed ideologically against the country's leftist parties and syndicates. The coffee market (the country's main crop) went spiraling down. Oil prices went up as well as basic essential living items. Unemployment levels rose and the general opinion of the population was that it was all due to the government's poor financial management.