Escudo de Costa Rica

The ruler of Costa Rica is the one who exercises the Executive Power of the country. Currently the 1949 Constitution defines such a person as the President of Costa Rica appointed by popular election for a four-year period without the possibility of consecutive re-election. The current ruler is the MSc. Rodrigo Chavez Robles.

Colonial period

Colonial government

First independent governments (1821-1824)

On October 11, 1821, the province of Costa Rica proclaimed its absolute independence from Spain. On the 29th of that month, the city of Cartago, head of the Costa Rican party, also signed an act declaring absolute independence from the Spanish government.

During this period the main divisions were between two sides; the imperialist who sought to annex Costa Rica to the Iturbide Empire and the republican who sought full independence for Costa Rica. The monarchists or monarchists also advocated the recognition of Iturbide as emperor.

Political leaders

Political Head of the Province of Costa Rica			Cargo	Period	Faction
RepublicMonarchists
		Juan Manuel de Cañas-Trujillo y Sánchez de Madrid	Patriotic political leader	11 October 1821 - 12 November 1821	Spanish
		Nicolás Carrillo and Aguirre	President of the Council of Peoples’ Laws	12 November 1821- 1 December 1821	Imperialist
		Pedro José de Alvarado and Baeza	Chairman of the Provisional Government Board	1 December 1821- 6 January 1822	Imperialist
		Rafael Barroeta and Castilla	President of the Elections Board 1 President of the First Governing Board	6-13 January 1822; 6 January-13 April 1822	Imperialist
		Santiago de Bonilla y Laya-Bolívar	2° President of the First Governing Board	13 April - 15 July 1822	Liberal
		José María de Peralta and La Vega	3rd President of the First Governing Board	15 July - 17 October 1822	Republican
		José Rafael Gallegos Alvarado	4th President of the First Governing Board	17 October 1822- 1 January 1823	Monarch
		José Santos Lombardo and Alvarado	President of the Second Governing Board	1 January - 20 March 1823	Monarch
		Rafael Francisco Osejo	President of the Diputación de Costa Rica	20-29 March 1823	Republican
		Joaquín de Oreamuno y Muñoz de la Trinidad	1 General Commander of Arms, de facto	29 March - 5 April 1823	Imperialist
		Gregorio José Ramírez and Castro	2° General Commander of Arms, de facto	5 - 16 April 1823	Republican
		José María de Peralta and La Vega	President of the Constituent Provincial Congress	16 April - 10 May 1823	Republican
		Manuel Alvarado and Hidalgo	President of the Third Senior Government Board	10 May 1823- 8 January 1824	Republican
		Eusebio Rodríguez and Castro	President of the Third Senior Government Board	8 January - 12 February 1824	Republican
		Manuel Alvarado and Hidalgo	President of the Third Senior Government Board	12 February - 8 September 1824	Republican

Emperor (1822-1823)

Emperor		Period	Notes
	Agustín de Iturbide	19 May 1822- 19 March 1823	During the period of stay of Costa Rica in the First Mexican Empire, Emperor Augustine of Iturbide was the monarch of the country as of the rest of the Empire. However, imperial sovereignty was not universally recognized. The disputes between imperialists loyal to Iturbide and Republicans seeking full independence led to the first civil war in Costa Rica

President of the Federal Republic of Central America

Between 1824 and 1838 Costa Rica was a member state of the Federal Republic of Central America, and its president was the federal president of the country, although the political influence of the Central American federal government was minimal.

President of the Federal Republic of Central America			Period	Profession	Party
Liberal PartyConservative Party
		José Matías Delgado	President of the National Constituent Assembly of the United Provinces of the Centre of America in 1823	Catholic priest	Liberal
		First Triumvirate of Central America	Constituted by Dr. Pedro Molina Mazariegos, General Manuel José Arce and Fagoaga and Political Chief Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz 1823	Medical, military and political	Liberal
		Second Triumvirate of Central America	Constituted by General Manuel José Arce and Fagoaga, the Lic. José Cecilio del Valle y el Lic. Tomás Antonio O'Horán y Argüello 1823 - 1825	Military and lawyers	Liberal
		Manuel José de Arce y Fagoaga	President of the Republic of Central America, elected by Congress 1825 - 1829	Military	Liberal
		Mariano Beltranena and Llano	As Vice President of the Republic 1828-1829, he was overthrown in 1829.	Aristocrat	Conservative
		José Francisco Morazán Quezada	briefly exercised de facto power in 1829	Military	Liberal
		José Francisco Barrundia and Cepeda	Senator, Acting President 1829-1830	Journalist	Liberal
		José Francisco Morazán Quezada	President elected by Congress for the period 1830-1834	Military	Liberal
		José Cecilio del Valle†	President elected for the period 1834-1838, died in 1834 without being able to exercise	Military	Conservative
		José Gregorio Salazar and Castro	Executive Vice-President, 1834-1835	Policy	Liberal
		José Francisco Morazán Quezada	President elected for the period 1835-1839, the States of Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica subsequently separated from the Federation in 1838.	Military	Liberal

Heads of State of Costa Rica (1824-1847)

Between 1824 and 1847 and according to the Constitutions of the United Provinces of Central America (1824), of Costa Rica of 1825 and 1844 the head of the executive branch bore the title of supreme head or first head.

It should be noted that the liberals almost completely dominated Costa Rican politics during this period, to the point that many historians call this the "Liberal State". Costa Rica did not have the frequent war between liberals and conservatives from other countries and even coups and de facto governments were mostly between liberal factions. The only conservative president of this period was José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado who did not finish his term. Another conservative, Nicolás Ulloa Soto, did not even take office.

Heads of the State of Costa Rica			Province of origin	Period	Profession	Faction	Vice Chief
LiberalsConservativesMilitary/De facto
		Juan Mora Fernández	San José	Interim Supreme Chief, 1824-1825; Supreme Chief elected 1825-1829 and 1829-1833	Educator and merchant	Liberal	Mariano Montealegre Bustamante (1824-1825) José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado (1825-1829)
		José Rafael de Gallegos and Alvarado	Cartago	Supreme Chief elected for the period 1833-1837; resigned in March 1835	Entrepreneurship	Conservative	Manuel Fernández Chacón
		Manuel Fernández Chacón	San José	As Vice-President of State, he took over the period of Gallegos (1835-1837), but the election of the latter was cancelled by Congress on March 6, 1835 and a new election was made.	Done.	Liberal	Vacant
		Braulio Carrillo Colina	Cartago	Head of State elected to complete the period of Gallegos 1835-1837	Lawyer	Liberal	Manuel Fernández Chacón
		Joaquín Mora Fernández	San José	Provisory Head of State March-April 1837	Lawyer	Liberal
		Manuel Aguilar Chacón	San José	Head of State elected for the period 1837-1841; overthrown in 1838	Lawyer	Liberal	Juan Mora Fernández
		Braulio Carrillo Colina	Cartago	Head of State de facto 14 November 1838. He was declared Vital Chief on 8 March 1841; overthrown on 8 April 1842	Lawyer	Liberal	Miguel Carranza Fernández (1838-1841) Manuel Antonio Bonilla Nava (1841-182)
		Francisco Morazán Quesada	HondurasHonduras	Head of State de facto 8 April-11 September 1842; overthrow	Military	Liberal	Juan Mora Fernández
		Antonio Pinto Soares	Portugal	Chief of Provisory State 11-27 September 1842	Military	Liberal	Vacant
		José María Alfaro Zamora	Alajuela	Head of provisional State 27 September 1842-21 November 1844	Merchant	Liberal	Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla (1843-1844)
		Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla	Cartago	Head of State elected on 21 November 1844 for the period 1844-1848; was replaced by Rafael Moya Murillo (17 December 1844-30 April 1845) and José Rafael de Gallegos and Alvarado (1 May 1845-7 June 1846); overthrown on 7 June 1846	Lawyer	Liberal	José María Castro Madriz (1845-1847)
		Rafael Moya Murillo	Heredia	Head of provisional State 17 December 1844-30 April 1845	Entrepreneurship	Liberal
		José Rafael de Gallegos and Alvarado	Cartago	Interim Head of State 1 May 1845-7 June 1846	Entrepreneurship	Conservative
		José María Alfaro Zamora	Alajuela	Temporary Head of State 7 June 1846-1 May 1847	Merchant	Liberal

Presidents of Costa Rica

Current title of the head of state and government since the Constitution of 1847. Historiography tends to divide this historical period into two, the one before the civil war of 1948 and the one after it. During the first period from 1847 to 1948 again the Liberals almost completely dominated Costa Rican politics. Liberal hegemony was only briefly broken by the government of Vicente Herrera Zeledón (who had nevertheless been elected by the Liberals) who ruled de facto for just over a year between 1876 and 1877. Even the dictator Federico Tinoco, whose dictatorship lasted two years, was also a liberal. In addition, Costa Rican politics was then (and continues to be to some extent) eminently personalist, so political parties such as Civil, Nacional, Peliquista, and Republicano revolved mainly around leaders and political figures and not ideologies, although, in general terms, they tend to be diffusely associated with liberalism.

Costa Rican liberalism was also closely linked to the coffee oligarchy and an important sector of the aristocracy. Attempts to create partisan alternatives that were not only formally ideological but more to the left were the Reformist Party of Father Jorge Volio Jiménez, strongly influenced by the social doctrine of the Church and Social Christianity, and the Bloque de Obreros y Campesinos of Manuel Mora Valverde (who it would precisely break with the Reformist Party after Volio's alliance with the liberal Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno of the Republican Party) that would lead to the Costa Rican Communist Party. However, even after the war an important influence of liberal thought could be seen in the presidents emanated opposition coalitions as well as within the Social Christian Unity Party.

The National Republican Party took several liberals to the presidency, however, it would be under the government of perhaps its most famous president Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia that the reforms known as the Social Guarantees would be given to benefit the poorest classes and it would be one of the triggers of the war of 48.

Presidents of the State of Costa Rica

Presidents of the State of Costa Rica				Province of origin	Period	Profession	Faction	Vice-Chairman
Liberal
	1		José María Alfaro Zamora	Alajuela	President of the Provisory State 1-8 May 1847	Merchant	Liberal	José María Castro Madriz
	2		José María Castro Madriz	San José	President of the State (8 May 1847-31 August 1848) elected for the period 1847-1853; became President of the Republic in 1848 and was the second and last President of the State	Lawyer	Liberal	José María Alfaro Zamora (1847) Juan Rafael Mora Porras (1847-1848)

Presidents of the Republic of Costa Rica

Presidents of the Republic of Costa Rica				Province of origin	Period	Profession	Party	Vice-Chairman
Parties: LiberalMilitary/DevoiceConstitutionalCivilRepublicanNational UnionNationalPeliquistaNational Republican
	1		José María Castro Madriz	San José	President of the Republic 31 August 1848-15 November 1849; forced to resign in 1849	Lawyer	Independent (Liberal)	Manuel José Carazo Bonilla (1848-1849) Juan Rafael Mora Porras (1849)
	1.a		Miguel Mora Porras	San José	Acting President 16-26 November 1849	Merchant	Independent (Liberal)	Vacant
	2		Juan Rafael Mora Porras	San José	Vice-President-in-Charge 26 November-30 December 1849; President-elect to complete the period of Castro Madriz 1849-1853; President-elect 1853-1859; President-elect 1859-1865, overthrown 14 August 1859	Entrepreneurship	Independent (Liberal)	Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla† (1853-1856) Vicente Aguilar Cubero (1856-1857) Rafael García-Escalante Nava (1857-1859)
	3		José María Montealegre Fernández	San José	Temporary President, 14 August 1859-29 April 1860, elected 29 April 1860-8 May 1863	Medical	Independent (Liberal)	Post abolished Replaced by deputies appointed to the presidency by the Congress.
	4		Jesús Jiménez Zamora	Cartago	President-elect 8 May 1863-8 May 1866	Medical	Independent (Liberal)
	5		José María Castro Madriz	San José	President-elect 8 May 1866-1869, overthrown 1 November 1868	Lawyer	Independent (Liberal)
	6		Jesús Jiménez Zamora	Cartago	Chairman de facto 1 November 1868-8 May 1869; President-elect 8 May 1869, overthrown on 27 April 1870	Medical	Independent (Liberal)
	7		Bruno Carranza Ramírez	San José	Chairman de facto appointed by Thomas Guardia 27 April-8 August 1870	Medical	Independent (Liberal)
	8		Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez	Guanacaste	Interim President 8 August 1870-8 May 1872; President-elect 8 May 1872-8 May 1876	Military	Independent (Liberal)
	9		Aniceto Esquivel Sáenz	Cartago	President-elect 8 May 1876; overthrown 30 July 1876	Lawyer	Independent (Liberal)
	10		Vicente Herrera Zeledón	San José	President imposed by Tomás Guardia 30 July 1876-23 September 1877	Lawyer	Independent (Conserver)
	11		Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez†	Guanacaste	Chairman de facto 23 September 1877-6 July 1882; he died in office	Military	Independent (Liberal)
	12		Saturnino Lizano Gutiérrez	Puntarenas	Temporary President 6 July-10 August 1882	Merchant	Independent (Liberal)
	13		Prospero Fernández Oreamuno†	San José	President-elect 10 August 1882, died on 12 March 1885	Philosopher	Independent (Liberal)
	14		Bernardo Soto Alfaro	Alajuela	As the first appointed, the period of Fernandez was concluded 12 March 1885-8 May 1886; President-elect 8 May 1886-8 May 1890. On 7 November 1889 he separated from the presidency without resigning	Military, businessman and lawyer	Independent (Liberal)
	14.a		Carlos Durán Cartín	San José	As the third designated officer exercised power during the final months of the Soto Alfaro period 7 November 1889-8 May 1890	Medical	Independent (Liberal)
	15		José Rodríguez Zeledón	San José	President-elect 8 May 1890-8 May 1894	Lawyer	Constitutional Democratic
	16		Rafael Yglesias Castro	San José	President-elect 8 May 1894-8 May 1898 and 8 May 1898-8 May 1902	Entrepreneurship	Civil
	17		Ascension Esquivel Ibarra	NicaraguaNicaragua	President-elect 8 May 1902-8 May 1906	Lawyer	National Union
	18		Cleto González Víquez	Heredia	President-elect 8 May 1906-8 May 1910	Lawyer and historian	National
	19		Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	Cartago	President-elect 8 May 1910-8 May 1914	Lawyer	Republican
	20		Alfredo González Flores	Heredia	First appointed to exercise power throughout the period 8 May 1914-8 May 1918; overthrown 27 January 1917	Lawyer	Republican
	21		Federico Alberto Tinoco Granados	San José	Chairman de facto 27 January-11 April 1917; elected president being a single candidate 1917-1923; resigned in 20 August 1919	Military and Entrepreneurship	Peliquista Party
	22		Juan Bautista Quirós Segura	San José	President called to complete the Tinoco period 20 August 1919-1923; forced to resign 2 September 1919	Military and Entrepreneurship	Peliquista Party
	23		Francisco Aguilar Barquero	Cartago	Temporary President, 2 September 1919-8 May 1920	Educator	Republican
	24		Julio Acosta García	Alajuela	President-elect 8 May 1920-8 May 1924	Diplomatic	Constitutional
	25		Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	Cartago	President-elect 8 May 1924-8 May 1928	Lawyer	Republican
	26		Cleto González Víquez	Heredia	President-elect 8 May 1928-8 May 1932	Lawyer and historian	National Union
	27		Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	Cartago	First appointed to exercise power for the entire period 8 May 1932-8 May 1936	Lawyer	National Republican
	28		León Cortés Castro	Alajuela	President-elect 8 May 1936-8 May 1940	Educator and lawyer	National Republican
	29		Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia	San José	President-elect 8 May 1940-8 May 1944	Medical	National Republican
	30		Teodoro Picado Michalski	San José	President-elect 8 May 1944-8 May 1948 He separated from power on 19 April 1948 without resigning	Educator	National Republican
	30.a		Santos León Herrera	San José	Third-designed, called to exercise internship the power from 19 April to 8 May 1948	Engineer and Educator	National Republican

Founding Board of the Second Republic

After the rupture of the constitutional order in 1948 at the outbreak of the third and last Costa Rican civil war, the victorious side made up of the National Liberation Movement exercised de facto power for 18 months under the self-styled Founding Board of the Second Republic presided over by José Figueres Ferrer who proclaimed the start of the Second Costa Rican Republic.

Funding Board of the Second Republic			Period	Organization
		José Figueres Ferrer, Benjamin Hate Hate, Gonzalo Facio Segreda, Alberto Martén Chavarría, Uladislao Gámez Solano, Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich, Bruce Masís Dibiasi, Raúl Blanco Cervantes, Benjamín Núñez Vargas, Edgar Cardona Quirós, Daniel Oduber Quirós	Government de facto 8 May 1948 to 8 November 1949	National Liberation Movement

Presidents of the Second Republic of Costa Rica

José Figueres would hand over the Executive Power to Otilio Ulate Blanco on November 8, 1949 as the presumed winner of the 1948 elections whose annulment by the government of Teodoro Picado and Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia provoked the civil war of the same year. A National Constituent Assembly was also convened which drafted the 1949 Constitution, still in force, and which also created the official positions of First and Second Vice President of the Republic.

The National Liberation Party, of social democratic ideology and led by the war-winning caudillo José Figueres Ferrer would become the main political force after 1948, but both Calderonists and Liberals would remain active, allying with each other, which would allow the governments of Mario Echandi Jiménez and José Joaquín Trejos Fernández. As a result of the merger of almost all the anti-liberationist opposition grouped in the Unidad Coalition in the Social Christian Unity in 1983, this party and the National Liberation would form a solid bipartisanship for which all the presidents between 1982 and 2014 belonged to one of these two parties. It is in 2014 that the bipartisanship is broken with the arrival to power of Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, the first president of the post-bipartisan stage and belonging to a party that was not linked to the two great traditional political trends (liberationism and Calderonism). Acción Ciudadana, which had already been the main opposition force for two previous terms.

Presidents of the Republic of Costa Rica				Province of origin	Period	Profession	Party	Vice-Presidents
Parties: National UnionNational LiberationCoalition UnityChristian Social UnitCitizen ActionSocial Democratic Progress
	31		Otilio Ulate Blanco	Alajuela	President-elect 8 November 1949-8 November 1953	Journalist	National Union	Alberto Oreamuno Flores y Alfredo Volio Mata
	32		José Figueres Ferrer	Alajuela	President-elect 8 November 1953-8 May 1958	Farmer	National Liberation	Raúl Blanco Cervantes and Fernando Esquivel Bonilla
	33		Mario Echandi Jiménez	San José	President-elect 8 May 1958-8 May 1962	Business and diplomat	National Union	Abelardo Bonilla Baldares and José Joaquín Peralta Esquivel
	34		Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich	Alajuela	President-elect 8 May 1962-8 May 1966	Accountant	National Liberation	Raúl Blanco Cervantes y Carlos Sáenz Herrera
	35		José Joaquín Trejos Fernández	San José	President-elect 8 May 1966-8 May 1970	University professor, chemist and mathematician	National unification	Jorge Vega Rodríguez and Virgilio Calvo Sánchez
	36		José Figueres Ferrer	Alajuela	President-elect 8 May 1970-8 May 1974	Farmer	National Liberation	Manuel Aguilar Bonilla and Jorge Rossi Chavarría
	37		Daniel Oduber Quirós	San José	President-elect 8 May 1974-8 May 1978	Philosopher, lawyer and poet	National Liberation	Carlos Manuel Castillo Morales and Fernando Guzmán Mata
	38		Rodrigo Carazo Hate	Cartago	President-elect 8 May 1978-8 May 1982	Economista	Coalition Unity	Rodrigo Altmann Ortiz and José Miguel Alfaro Rodríguez
	39		Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez	Alajuela	President-elect 8 May 1982-8 May 1986	Campesino and trade unionist	National Liberation	Alberto Fait Lizano and Armando Aráuz Aguilar
	40		Óscar Arias Sánchez	Heredia	President-elect 8 May 1986-8 May 1990	Business and economist	National Liberation	Jorge Manuel Dengo Obregón y Victoria Garrón Orozco
	41		Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier	NicaraguaNicaragua	President-elect 8 May 1990-8 May 1994	Lawyer	Christian Social Unit	Germán Serrano Pinto and Arnoldo López Echandi
	42		José María Figueres Olsen	San José	President-elect 8 May 1994-8 May 1998	Industrial engineer	National Liberation	Rodrigo Oreamuno Blanco and Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis
	43		Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría	San José	President-elect 8 May 1998-8 May 2002	Business and economist	Christian Social Unit	Astrid Fischel Volio and Elizabeth I hate Benito
	44		Abel Pacheco de la Espriella	San José	President-elect 8 May 2002-8 May 2006	Psychiatrist and Writer	Christian Social Unit	Lineth Saborío Chaverri and Luis Fishman Zonzinski
	45		Óscar Arias Sánchez	Heredia	President-elect 8 May 2006-8 May 2010	Business and economist	National Liberation	Laura Chinchilla Miranda and Kevin Casas Zamora
	46		Laura Chinchilla Miranda	San José	President-elect 8 May 2010-8 May 2014	Politologa	National Liberation	Alfio Piva Mesén and Luis Liberman Ginsburg
	47		Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera	San José	President-elect 8 May 2014-8 May 2018	University professor, polytologist, sociologist and historian	Citizen Action	Helio Fallas Venegas and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría
	48		Carlos Alvarado Quesada	San José	President-elect May 8, 2018 May 8, 2022	Politics, writer, journalist, political scientist	Citizen Action	Epsy Campbell Barr and Marvin Rodríguez Cordero
	49		Rodrigo Chaves Robles	San José	President-elect 8 May 2022-A today	Economista	Social Democratic Progress	Stephan Brunner Neibig and Mary Munive Angermüller

Notes

References