Faces of Costa Rica
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| Oscar Arias Sanchez: Nobel President Oscar Arias Sanchez promised to bring peace to Central America while campaigning for president in 1985 and won 52.3 percent of the popular vote. He began his term in 1986. In 1987, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for keeping his word. "Peace consists, very largely, in the fact of desiring it with all one's soul," Arias said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. In the 1980s, Costa Rica was an oasis of calm in a Central America. Civil wars consumed Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Guatemala. The Arias Peace Plan called for amnesty for all guerrilla soldiers, a cease fire, the right to freedom of expression and democratic elections, and the release of political prisoners. It also required the end of all military aid from or to outside governments, including U.S. aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. The seven Central American Nations signed the accord on August 7, 1987. Two months later Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. With the award money, $340,000, Arias founded the The Arias Foundation for Human Peace and Progress. Arias was re-elected to the Costa Rican presidency for the second time in 2006.
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