Rodrigo Carazo Odio
| Rodrigo Carazo Odio | |
|---|---|
| President of Costa Rica | |
|
In office 8 May 1978 – 8 May 1982 |
|
| Preceded by | Daniel Oduber Quirós |
| Succeeded by | Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
27 December 1926 Cartago, Costa Rica |
| Died | 9 December 2009 (aged 82) San José, Costa Rica |
| Political party | Unity Coalition |
| Spouse(s) |
Estrella Zeledón Lizano (m. 1947–2009; his death) |
Rodrigo José Ramón Francisco de Jesús Carazo Odio (27 December 1926 – 9 December 2009) served as President of Costa Rica from 8 May 1978 to 8 May 1982.
Carazo was born in Cartago. Before serving as president, he was the Director of the Central Bank and General Manager for RECOPE (Costa Rica's nationalized oil refinery business).
He married Estrella Zeledón Lizano in in San José on April 16, 1947. The couple had five children: Rodrigo Alberto, Mario Ernesto, Jorge Manuel, Álvaro, and Rolando Martin. Their son, Rolando, was killed in a car accident in Rohrmoser, Costa Rica, in 1979 at the age of 26.
During and immediately following his term, Carazo played a central role in the founding of the University for Peace, a United Nations-affiliated educational institution that offers graduate programs in peace and development studies. His government also concentrated on and promoted the country's petrochemical industry and even began exploration and digging near the Talamanca Mountain Ridge in search for petroleum. In the energy sector, his government inaugurated the hydroelectric plant in Lake Arenal. The Carazo government 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 in the neighboring country of Nicaragua, which had been under the control of the Somoza dictatorship for decades, whose rule Costa Rica had always opposed. 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 against Somoza and so backed 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.
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Wikipedia