The former president of the Republic, Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez, died at age 90 the night of November 29th, 2016 at the San Juan de Dios hospital, after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Monge ruled the country from 1982 to 1986. He was born in Palmares de Alajuela on December 29th, 1925, into a family of farmers. His parents were Gerardo Monge Quesada and Elisa Álvarez Vargas.
From a young age he was involved in social movements and trade unions. Monge was the only survivor of the National Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1949 Constitution.
He was a legislator from 1958 to 1962 and the president of the Legislative Assembly from 1970 to 1974.
Monge came to power as a candidate for the National Liberation Party (PLN).
At the age of 19, he was president of the Confederation of Rerum Novarum Workers. In 1951 he was one of the signatories of the Founding Charter of the National Liberation Party and Regional Secretary for Latin America of the International Labor Organization in 1952.
He was then Minister of the Presidency under the second administration of José Figueres Ferrer, from 1955 to 1956, and ambassador to Israel in 1963 during the administration of Francisco Orlich.
Monge also served as Secretary General of the PLN from 1969 to 1970 and president of the party in 1973.
He was also founder and president of the Center for Democratic Studies of Latin America (Cedal) since 1968, member of the Editorial Board of the magazine Combate and director of the Agricultural School for the Humid Tropical Region (Earth).
In the field of international politics he declared Costa Rica as a neutral country and stated that the nation would not engage in warfare. The statement was made in the middle of the Central American war that required the intervention of the government of US President Ronald Reagan in Nicaragua.
Monge had to face a Nicaraguan hostile regime and guerrilla between the Sandinistas and the “Contra” (opposition).
He remained active in the political life of the country, although in recent years he had turned away due to health problems.
Monge was married to Doris Yankelewitz, who died last May.