Óscar Arias Sánchez

Who is Óscar Arias Sánchez?

Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician and economist who served two non-consecutive terms as President of Costa Rica, from 1986 to 1990 and again from 2006 to 2010. He rose to international prominence during his first term for authoring and championing the Esquipulas II Peace Agreement of 1987, a regional plan that brought together the presidents of Central America to negotiate an end to the civil wars then devastating Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. For this diplomatic achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987, becoming Costa Rica's first Nobel laureate. After leaving office he founded the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, which promotes demilitarization, human rights, and citizen participation across Latin America. He returned to the presidency in 2006, focusing on free trade, education reform, and Costa Rica's long-standing policy of not maintaining a standing army. Arias remains one of the most internationally recognized Costa Rican public figures, closely associated with the country's identity as a nation without a military and its tradition of active regional diplomacy.

Sources: The Nobel Peace Prize 1987, nobelprize.org · Government of Costa Rica, presidential archives · Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, institutional history