何塞·菲格雷斯·费雷尔

人物经历

出生于哥斯达黎加阿拉胡埃拉省圣拉蒙区，1942年4月，他因为在电台发表演讲抨击卡尔德隆政府的腐败而被迫流亡墨西哥，1944年5月卡尔德隆卸任后，菲格雷斯得以返回哥斯达黎加，并在自己的咖啡园内建立了武装队伍加勒比军团，开始筹划推翻民族共和党领导的哥斯达黎加政府。1948年，他率领哥斯达黎加民族解放军在哥斯达黎加内战中战胜政府军，成立了过渡性质的执政委员会，自任执政委员会主席，并组织召开了制宪会议，制定了哥斯达黎加第二共和国宪法，废除军队。并将银行国有化，给予妇女和黑人投票权。

其子何塞·玛丽亚·菲格雷斯亦于1994-1998年出任哥斯达黎加总统。

José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer (25 September 1906 – 8 June 1990) was a Costa Rican farmer, revolutionary leader, and statesman who served as the 32nd and 36th President of Costa Rica from 1953 to 1958 and from 1970 to 1974. He was also the head of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic from 1948 to 1949 and the founder of the National Liberation Party.

As the victorious leader of the Costa Rican Civil War and principal architect of the Second Republic, one of Figueres's most notable achievements was the abolition of the Costa Rican army, making Costa Rica one of the first countries to permanently eliminate its standing armed forces, though the motivations for the decision have been widely debated. His junta government also nationalized the banking system, secured suffrage for women and Afro–Costa Ricans, and extended Costa Rican nationality rights to people of African descent.

During his two constitutional presidencies, Figueres oversaw the creation of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology, the National University of Costa Rica, and the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) as an autonomous institution, among other reforms. His administrations also promoted industrialization, social mobility, and the strengthening of the Costa Rican middle class.

His son José María Figueres served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998.

Early life and career

Figueres was born on 25 September 1906 in San Ramón in Alajuela province. Figueres was the eldest of the four children of Mariano Figueres Forges (a doctor), and his wife, Francisca Ferrer Minguella (a teacher) who had recently immigrated from Catalonia to San Ramón in west-central Costa Rica. Figueres' first language was Catalan.

In 1924, he left for Boston, United States, on a work and study trip.……

Political career

Return to Costa Rica, the Caribbean Legion, and the Costa Rica Civil War (1944–1948)

When Figueres returned to Costa Rica in 1944 following two years in exile for criticising President Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, he established the Democratic Action current within the Democratic Party, which a year later transformed into the Social Democratic Party.……

Figueres as the provisional president (1948–1949)

After the civil war, Figueres became president at the head of a provisional junta, known as the Founding Council, that held power for 18 months.……

Political connections

KGB

According to revelations from the Mitrokhin Archive, the KGB secretly transmitted to Figueres a $300,000 loan via the Costa Rican Communist Party to help finance his 1970 campaign, in exchange for establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, which he did upon election.……

CIA

Figueres himself acknowledged in 1981 that he had received help from the Central Intelligence Agency, saying, "At the time, I was conspiring against the Latin American dictatorships and wanted help from the United States, I was a good friend of Allen Dulles," and, "The CIA's Cultural Department helped me finance a magazine and some youth conferences here.……

Career after presidency

Figueres was well liked and received in many Latin American countries for his center-left ideals.

After the presidency, as an acknowledged elder statesman, Figueres became a de facto ambassador for subsequent administrations.

Figueres backed the left-wing Nicaraguan Revolution that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979. He railed against U.S.……

Global policy

He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

Personal life

Figueres married Henrietta Boggs from the United States in 1941. They had two children, Muni and José Martí, before the marriage ended in divorce in 1954. He later married Karen Olsen Beck, also from the United States. They had four children: José María, Karen Christiana, Mariano and Kirsten. His wife was a member of the country's Legislative Assembly.

Death

He died on 8 June 1990 in San José aged 83 from natural causes. He was given a state funeral by the government and his former comrades who fought with him in the 1948 & 1955 revolutions. After the funeral, his remains were taken to La Lucha Sin Fin, his farm which he owned since 1928.

Awards

Taiwan: Order of Propitious Clouds (1973)