Karaso Odio, Rodrigo

In 1954, he graduated from the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Costa Rica in San Jose with a bachelor's degree in economics. He specialized in production organization and production management. After studying he held various posts in the economic institutions of the country, in 1963-1964 he was the director of the Central Bank of Costa Rica. He taught at various universities in the country, worked for some time in Venezuela.

From 1966 to 1970, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica and was its chairman from 1966 to 1967 , then headed the parliamentary commission on financial and economic issues.

Until the late 1960s, he was a member of the National Liberation Party, then he founded the Democratic Renewal Party and since 1971 has been its chairman. In 1974 he was a candidate for the presidency, but was defeated. In February 1978, he was elected President of the Republic from the bloc of opposition Unity parties.

In 1980, he founded the University for Peace , an institution dedicated to the study and propaganda of peace. He also became the first president of the University Council.

His government also assisted the petrochemical industry and even began searching for oil in the vicinity of the Talamanca mountain range. In the energy sector, it commissioned hydropower plants on Lake Arenal . The Karaso government also regulated the excavation of gold in the south of the country.

On the international stage, Karaso had to deal mainly with radical changes in neighboring Nicaragua , which had been under the control of the dictatorship of the Somoza family for decades (Costa Rica has always opposed their rule). In the 1970s, the government of Costa Rica supported the Sandinista rebels. Many of the battles that took place near the Nicaraguan border took place on Costa Rican land. Several times the government of Karaso warned Somoza so that his troops would not violate the border. In addition, the government was developing plans to create a defense force to combat any attempts by Somoza to invade Costa Rica. However, in 1979, the Karaso government, in violation of national sovereignty, allowed three US helicopters to land in the country to help Somoza escape from Nicaragua, for which she was strongly criticized by the opposition. In 1981, the Karaso government broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba , and in early 1982 supported the US initiative and the dictatorial regimes of Central America to isolate Sandinist Nicaragua .

During his reign, the country faced a serious economic crisis. The price of oil was high and the price of coffee, the main crop of Costa Rica, was falling. Despite the advice of his Minister of Finance, Hernan Saenz Jimenez and the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), Karaso ordered the Central Bank of Costa Rica to borrow substantial funds in order to maintain the value of the local currency of the column , hoping that the economic recovery was close. This policy ultimately led to the catastrophic sudden devaluation of the column in September 1980 . High inflation also contributed. Heavy duty debt Costa Rica carries so far.

After retiring from the presidency in 1982, Karaso became a critic of the IMF and other international financial institutions. In his later years, he spoke out strongly against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

His wife, Estrella Celedon Lisano, is the granddaughter of the President of Costa Rica Saturnino Lisano Gutierrez . They have five sons.

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