Background
José Figueres Ferrer was born on 25 September 1906. The son of a physician, he was bom in San Ramón, shortly after his parents emigrated from Spain.
government official politician president
José Figueres Ferrer was born on 25 September 1906. The son of a physician, he was bom in San Ramón, shortly after his parents emigrated from Spain.
In 1924 he went to the United States to study engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology but dropped out.
He returned to Costa Rica in 1928 and acquired a rundown farm, where he created an agricultural-industrial enterprise, manufacturing coffee bags and mgs from cabuya fiber. He shared the proceeds with the peasants and workers in the form of housing, schools, recreational facilities, and clinics.
Figueres organized the National Liberation Party (PLN) and won the presidency in 1953. The PLN became the dominant party in Costa Rica.
In Costa Rica, Liberacionista leader Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich won the 1962 presidential election, but in 1966 the PLN standard-bearer, Daniel Oduber Quiros, lost. This defeat convinced Figueres that he had to run in 1970.
Figueres became president again in 1970. This last presidency was very controversial, as Figueres, in his quest for better prices for coffee, opened trade talks and established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, which conservative groups protested vigorously. He caused a major scandal when he allowed “fugitive financier’’ Robert Vesco to settle in Costa Rica.