Top 10 Amazing Facts about Laura Chinchilla

The voices of experience by World Travel & Tourism Council from Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Laura Chinchilla

Women are frequently misrepresented and underrepresented in leadership roles around the world. However, it really deserves praise when a woman overcomes all barriers to enter the presidency; one such lady is Laura Chinchilla. She formerly held the positions of Minister of Justice and one of the two vice presidents under the Oscar Arias Sanchez administration.

Here are interesting facts about Laura Chinchilla.

1. She was the first female President of Costa 

Laura by Wikimedia Commons

Laura Chinchilla was the eighth president of a Latin American nation and the first female president of Costa Rica. She won 46.76% of the total number of valid votes while running on the Partido Liberación Nacional’s slate, becoming the 46th president of the nation.

 2. She became one of the most unpopular presidents in the whole Latin America

But before she had even completed her tenure, polls indicated that she had surpassed Porfirio Lobo of Honduras as the least popular leader in Latin America.

The president’s administration has been implicated in a conflict-of-interest scandal involving a Chinese-funded oil refinery expansion in Mon, Limón, on the Caribbean coast, a trip to Peru on a private plane owned or operated by someone with alleged ties to drug trafficking, and teacher and public sector union strikes. A second setback for Chinchilla’s administration came from the $40 million Route 1856 highway expansion project and the abandoned San José-San Ramón highway repair plan.

3. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science

Rafael Angel Chinchilla and Emilce Miranda Castillo welcomed Laura Chinchilla into the world on March 28, 1959, at Carmen Central, San Jose. She was the oldest of four kids. Her father served as Costa Rica’s previous comptroller. Most of her early education is unknown, but in 1981, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Costa Rica. She continued her education at Georgetown University, where she pursued a master’s in public policy in 1989.

4. Laura Chinchilla was involved in several reforms in Latin America

Laura Chinchilla by Ricardo Patiño from Wikimedia Commons

After receiving her first degree in 1990, Laura Chinchilla worked as a consultant throughout Africa and Latin America. She specialised in judicial reforms and public security while working for various international organisations. She has worked with a number of organisations, including USAID, and UNDP, where she facilitated studies and projects on judicial reforms, and IDB on police reforms.

In addition to her job, she spoke on various stages for public safety and police reform. Laura Chinchilla participated in various reforms in Latin America with her experience and well-respected qualities, including the Project Advisory Committee of Civil Society and Public Safety for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUNPADEM).

5. Laura Chinchilla entered into politics serving in Jose Maria Figueres Olsen’s administration

Laura Chinchilla, who later entered politics, worked in the Jose Maria Figueres Olsen administration. She served as a substantive minister of public security from 1996 to 1998 after serving as a deputy minister for public security from 1994 to 1996. She held the position of chairman of the Joint Drug Intelligence Center and National Immigration Council while she was a minister.

In addition to the National Security Council and the National Drug Council, she was a part of the National Police Academy’s Academic Council. She was elected to the National Assembly in 2002 and served as the deputy for the province of San Jose for two years. Her political power continued to rise throughout this time.

6. She resigned from the Oscar Arias Sanchez administration in 2006 to pursue her presidential ambitions

She served in the National Assembly for four years before being chosen in 2006 to serve as one of the two vice presidents in the administration of Oscar Arias Sanchez. Due to her desire to run for president, Chinchilla only held office for two years before quitting. She ran for and was elected as the Partido Liberación Nacional’s candidate for president in 2009.

7. As president she heavily invested in security and education

Laura Chinchilla by MadriCR by MadriCR from Wikimedia Commons

She had a significant impact on the security and education industries, among others. She was able to make significant security changes for the state, which reduced the homicide rate. She made significant investments in that field because she thought that education may help with many societal issues. The Article 78 of the Constitution was successfully implemented by Laura Chinchilla.

“The Strengthening Education Effort” gave the government permission to devote 8% of the national budget to education spending. Despite the fact that the financing fell short of the 8% required by the constitution, she was still able to achieve a 7.2% level, the highest in the nation and among other nations in the area.

8. She didn’t oppose same-sex marriages

On July 4, 2013, Laura Chinchilla enacted new legislation promoting civil partnerships that can be extended to same-sex unions. She said that she wouldn’t be against same-sex marriage if the court legalised it. She oversaw the OAS Observation Mission which was tasked with monitoring the 2015 federal election in Mexico after her presidency. She served as the mission’s commander and oversaw the mission that watched the United States election in November 2016 when President Trump won.

9. She divorced and remarried

While serving as an advisor for the Center for the Administration of Justice at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, Chinchilla met her second husband, José Mara Rico Cueto, a Spanish attorney who also had Canadian citizenship. José Mara Rico Chinchilla, the couple’s son, was born in 1996.

Rico and Chinchilla got married on March 26, 2000. On April 15, 2019, she lost her spouse José Mara Rico to Alzheimer’s disease, leaving her a widow.

10. Chinchilla developed and signed the National Network of Care Act

Gira por Costa Rica by Angélica Rivera de Peña from Wikimedia Commons

Some of Laura Chinchilla’s political judgements were affected by some of her personal beliefs. She signed the National Network of Care Act, which she created from the ground up, to increase aid to the elderly and children. She was opposed to any constitutional changes that would have divided the state from the church, which is presently how the Republic of Costa Rica is characterised as a Roman Catholic country.

At the Women Economic Forum in Amsterdam, Chinchilla received the “Women of the Decade in Public Life and Leadership Award.” She has been awarded honorary doctorates by Georgetown University, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, and the University for Peace of the United Nations.

At the Women Economic Forum in Amsterdam, Chinchilla received the “Women of the Decade in Public Life and Leadership Award.” She has been awarded honorary doctorates by Georgetown University, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, and the University for Peace of the United Nations.