Luis Guillermo Solís

Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a Costa Rican politician and educator who was the 47th President of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC).

Solís led the field in the 2014 presidential election, and won the presidency in a landslide election, earning more votes than any presidential candidate in the history of the nation. Solís has a long academic and political career, culminating in his election as the first President of Costa Rica to be a member of the PAC. Since May 2017, Luis Guillermo Solis has been under fire after a report accused him of corruptly expediting the legal process of Chinese cement imports in favor of businessman and owner of Sinocem, Juan Carlos Bolaños, in a case known as ''Cementazo''. In May 2018 the Public Prosecutor of Costa Rica dismissed the charges against him.

Early life, education, and academic career

Solís was born in San José, Costa Rica, to Vivienne Rivera Allen, an educator, and Freddy Solís Avendaño, an uneducated shoemaker. Both his parents lived in Turrialba, and as such many residents consider him Turrialban. His family has Afro-Caribbean and Chinese roots, coming from Jamaica to Costa Rica in the early 1900s. Solís grew up in San Pedro de Montes de Oca and Curridabat, neighborhoods of San José. He attended Methodist High School in San José, where he was president of the student body, before studying history at the University of Costa Rica, where he earned a degree with academic honors in 1979. He earned a master's degree in Latin American Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Solís has held various academic and consulting positions. Between 1981 and 1987, he was an associate professor at the University of Costa Rica. In addition, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Michigan from 1983 to 1985. During this time, Solís worked with the Arias administration and eventually became director of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation (CPR for its Spanish initials). From 1992 to 1995, Solís worked with the Academic Council of the United Nations System. Starting in 1999, Solís worked for Florida International University as coordinator in the Center for the Administration of Justice and as a researcher for the Latin American and Caribbean Center, where he analyzed political and social events in Latin America.

A writer and editorial writer, Solís has published numerous essays and books about national and international affairs. In the 1990s, he wrote for ''La República'', a daily newspaper based in San José. His writing has been published by Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, Frontera Norte, Espacios and Global Governance. His writing has focused on civil society, international relations, and trade.

Solís is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Political beginnings

While still at UCR, Solís joined the National Liberation Party (PLN for its Spanish initials) in 1977. Solís was an adviser to Óscar Arias in the Foreign Ministry, working on the Esquipulas Peace Agreement for which Arias would later win a Nobel Peace Prize. Solís served as Director of International Relations for the PLN. During José María Figueres Olsen's time in office, Solís was ambassador of Central American Affairs.

In 2002, Solís followed Rolando González Ulloa as General Secretary of the PLN, a position he resigned from the following year, citing his disappointment with the Alcatel-Lucent bribery scandal that many PLN leaders were involved in. In 2005, he denounced the PLN for irregularities and corruption during party elections, along with a host of former PLN members. Solís went as far as to call the PLN leadership "Napoleonic" and "anti-democratic". He officially renounced his affiliation with the party and returned to academics.

After the 2006 election, Solís' name began to come up in PAC circles, particularly at meetings of the "ungroup," an informal gathering of PAC officials, led by former deputy and former Vice President of the National University of Costa Rica Alberto Salom Echeverría. Ottón Solís, one of PAC's founders and three-time presidential candidate, suggested that Luis Guillermo Solís run as a vice presidential candidate in 2010. Luis Guillermo Solis rejected the offer because he was working for the General Secretariat of Ibero-America (SEGIB for its Spanish initials), and employees of SEGIB were not allowed to participate in elections.

In 2009, Luis Guillermo Solís began his official affiliation with PAC. He began attending meetings of the "ungroup" in 2010. Within the party, PAC leader María Eugenia Venegas recognized Solís' potential and pushed for him to be elevated within the party. Solís undertook several trips around the country to meet with national and provincial PAC leaders.

2014 presidential campaign

Solís announced his candidacy for president on 27 November 2012. In the PAC's primary, he ran against Epsy Campbell Barr, Juan Carlos Mendoza García, and Ronald Solís Bolaños, winning with 35 percent of the vote, only 110 votes more than Juan Carlos Mendoza García.

In October 2013, he chose Helio Fallas and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría as his Vice-Presidential running mates. Among his aims, Solís claimed he would clean up corruption, create major investments in infrastructure, and shore up Costa Rica's universal health care and social security system. He also promised to continue initiatives to keep Costa Rica environmentally friendly. He said that he would "put the brakes" on new free trade agreements and would begin correctly administrating current free trade agreements. As such, Solís received a tremendous amount of political support from the country's trade unions.

On 2 February 2014, Solís won the most votes in the election with 30.95 percent. PLN candidate Johnny Araya came second with 29.95 percent of the vote. Most of Solís' support came from the Central Valley provinces of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago.

Because no candidate exceeded 40 percent of the vote, a runoff was scheduled for 6 April, as required by the constitution. However, on 5 March, Araya announced that he would abandon his campaign after polls showed him far behind Solís; one poll showed him losing by over 43 percent. However, under Costa Rican law the runoff still had to take place, and Solís won with over 77 percent of the vote, the largest margin ever recorded for a free election in Costa Rica. Unlike the first round, Solís earned a majority in every province, including Puntarenas, Limón, and Guanacaste. When he took office on 8 May, he was the first president in 66 years not to come from the PLN or what is now the PUSC.

Immediately after the election, Solís thanked Costa Rican voters. He received congratulatory notes from world leaders, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and the spokesperson from the French Ministry of International Affairs. For his part, Araya congratulated Solís on his victory, calling for national unity.

Presidency

A little over a week before taking office, in April 2014, Solís announced the creation of his cabinet. His cabinet consists of mostly PAC members or non-aligned citizens. However, two PUSC members were also added: María del Rocío Sáenz, Abel Pacheco's former health minister, heads the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social). Delia Villalobos, another former health minister, heads the Social Protection Council (Consejo de Seguridad).

Solís took office on 8 May 2014, amid festive fanfare. Delegations from more than 80 countries attended his inauguration at La Sabana Metropolitan Park, including Prince Felipe de Borbón of Spain, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza. Solís said, in Costa Rican vernacular, that he is taking over a "weed farm" (finca encharralada), pointing out growing income inequality and poverty, as well as a national teachers' strike.

Economic issues

In 2014, President Solís presented a budget with an increase in spending of 19% for 2015, an increase of 0.5% for 2016 and an increase of 12% for 2017. When the 2017 budget was finally proposed, it totaled US$15.9 billion. Debt payments account for one-third of that amount. Of greater concern is the fact that a full 46% of the budget will require financing, a step that will increase the debt owed to foreign entities.

The country's credit rating was reduced by Moody's Investors Service in early 2017 to Ba2 from Ba1, with a negative outlook on the rating. The agency particularly cited the "rising government debt burden and persistently high fiscal deficit, which was 5.2% of GDP in 2016". Moody's was also concerned about the "lack of political consensus to implement measures to reduce the fiscal deficit hichwill result in further pressure on the government's debt ratios". In late July 2017, the Costa Rica Central Bank estimated the budget deficit at 6.1 percent of the country's GDP.

A 2017 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that reducing the foreign debt must be a very high priority for the government. Other fiscal reforms were also recommended to moderate the budget deficit.

Liquidity problems

In early August 2017, the President admitted that the country was facing a "liquidity crisis" and promised that a higher VAT tax and higher income tax rates were being considered by his government. Such steps are essential, Solís told the nation, because it was facing difficulties in paying its obligations and guaranteeing the provision of services." "Despite all the public calls and efforts we have made since the start of my administration to contain spending and increase revenues, there is still a gap that we must close with fresh resources," he said. The crisis was occurring in spite of growth, low inflation and continued moderate interest rates, Solís concluded.

He explained that the Treasury will prioritize payments on the public debt first, then salaries, pensions, and, finally, on infrastructure. The subsequent priorities include transfers to institutions "according to their social urgency." All other payments will be made only if funds are available.

Political, economic, and social philosophy

Like most members of PAC, Solís identifies himself as a progressivist. His ''Plan Rescate'', or ''Rescue Plan'', outlines his political beliefs. This plan focused on three central issues: anti-corruption, economic growth, and reducing income inequality.

Solís claims that economic neoliberalism has created too much income inequality for Costa Rica. Past governments have avoided collecting taxes on large companies and high-income earners, leading to budget deficits which Solís claims his administration will fix through better enforcement. Banks should not encourage exports at the expense of income growth among the poor, according to Solís. He believes that economic liberalization has generally harmed women more than men because they have traditionally had less access to higher-income jobs. Part of that liberalization, he claims, included ignoring the financial and growth needs of the agricultural industry.

Solís supports environmental protections, which he believes Costa Rica has forgotten. As such, Solís believes that water must be safeguarded from private development and mismanagement, something that has caused water shortages in many of the country's municipalities. Solís claims that he will prosecute violators of the Water Resources Management Bill.

In addition, Solís supports increased LGBT rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals. In May 2014, he ordered that a rainbow flag be flown over the Presidential House as a show of solidarity with gays on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Solís is a Catholic. As a presidential candidate, he visited the basilica of Our Lady of Angels, home to the Costa Rican patron saint La Negrita, a traditional pilgrimage for many Costa Ricans and tourists. He supports the separation of church and state despite Catholicism being the country's official religion. With regard to ethical issues, he also supports civil unions, and in-vitro fertilization.

Personal life

Solis has five children from his previous marriage to his first wife, Nancy Olive Worsfold Richards (1987–2006): Monica, Cristina, Beatriz, Diego, and Ignacio.

Solís is not married to Mercedes Peñas Domingo, but she is altogether considered the First Lady of Costa Rica. He and Peñas, who began dating in 2006, have one daughter, Inés. Peñas said that she hopes to be active as an adviser to Solís, who called her "Jiminy Cricket." Saying that some of her duties as First Lady are machista, she will nevertheless greet dignitaries and perform other obligations. In addition to public service and academics, Solís enjoys farming.

As of July 2020, Solis has been named the Interim Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. where he has been working as a professor since 2018.

References

External links

Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solis, Luis Guillermo
1958 births
Citizens' Action Party (Costa Rica) politicians
Costa Rican people of Chinese descent
Costa Rican people of Jamaican descent
Costa Rican Roman Catholics
Government ministers of Costa Rica
Living people
People from San José, Costa Rica
Presidents pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
Costa Rican politicians of Chinese descent
Presidents of Costa Rica
Tulane University alumni
University of Michigan alumni
University of Costa Rica alumni
Members of the Inter-American Dialogue
Fulbright alumni