Laura Chinchilla

Laura Chinchilla Miranda (; born 28 March 1959 ) is a Costa Rican political scientist and politician who served as President of Costa Rica from 2010 to 2014. She was one of Óscar Arias Sánchez's two Vice-Presidents and his administration's Minister of Justice. She was the governing PLN candidate for president in the 2010 general election, where she won with 46.76% of the vote on 7 February. She was the eighth woman president of a Latin American country and the first woman to become President of Costa Rica. She was sworn in as President of Costa Rica on 8 May 2010.

After leaving office, she taught at Georgetown University in 2016. Chinchilla is co-chair of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank and the vice-president of Club de Madrid. Chinchilla previously served as a Fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.

Early life Laura Chinchilla was born in the Desamparados district of San José, the oldest child of her family with three younger brothers. Her father is Rafael Ángel Chinchilla Fallas, who served as comptroller of Costa Rica from 1972 to 1987, and maintained general popularity among the public. Her mother is Emilce Miranda Castillo. She attended the University of Costa Rica where she obtained a degree in political science, and she then attended Georgetown University in the United States for a master's degree in public policy. She then returned to Costa Rica to work as a policy consultant for security and judicial reform. Chinchilla's marital history and the child she had out of wedlock did not significantly affect her political life—despite the country's significant Catholic population—due to a culture in Costa Rican politics of avoiding personal attacks. She used the slogan firme y honesta (firm and honest), suggesting both a strong criminal policy and an anti-corruption platform, both of which were significant priorities for the public. Despite this, Chinchilla did not emphasize her gender during her campaign, instead campaigning on ideas of the traditional family.

The road was to stretch more than 150 km. A decree of emergency allowed the government to waive environmental regulations and oversight from the General Comptroller (Contraloria General de la Republica). Neither environmental nor engineering studies were conducted before the road was announced. There were accusations of mismanagement and corruption. The Ministerio Publico (Costa Rican attorney general) announced an official inquiry about the charges of corruption. Francisco Jiménez, minister of public works and transportation, was dismissed by Chinchilla as a consequence of the affair.

Public image Chinchilla presented a significant image of "soft or feminine" leadership. This was in part because of her leadership style of collaborating with others. Her supporters saw this as a sign of conciliation, while detractors saw it as an inability to act independently. At the end of Chinchilla's presidency, Costa Rica had many economic troubles. Public debt had reached 50% of GDP, unemployment was steadily rising and, despite high annual growth, 20% of the population lived below the poverty line. In 2016, Chinchilla was considered one of the most powerful women in Central America according to the World Economic Forum.

Cabinet Chinchilla appointed 42 cabinet ministers during her presidency, and she kept several ministers from the Arias presidency.

Economy At the time of Chinchilla's inauguration, the Great Recession had caused Costa Rica's economy to decline, and recovery from the recession took place during her term. GDP growth reached 5% at its highest point while she was president, while overall poverty and unemployment increased.

Chinchilla increased taxes on corporations and allocated the funds to security. In her first hundred days as president, Chinchilla hired hundreds of police officers and expanded the country's prison capacity. defining the main strategic lines of action and the need to promote a comprehensive, sustainable and state policy on the matter.

Chinchilla rejected more punitive measures against crime outside of major drug trafficking crimes. Instead, she described poverty and inequality as leading causes of crime, and her welfare policy was integrated with her security policy. She held a moderate position on crime, favoring strong enforcement in conjunction with prevention.

Environment Chinchilla was a supporter of environmentalist policies while she was president. During her campaign, she declared her intention to see Costa Rica be carbon neutral by 2021.

The government sustainability variable was displayed by Chinchilla promoting policies for the generation of clean energy which exceeded 90% of electricity generation from renewable sources, at the end of her term. Equal importance was given to the protection of the seas, through Chinchilla's extension of marine protection zones and a strong fight against shark finning, this led to international recognition for her efforts made towards sustainability.

One of Chinchilla's first actions upon taking office was to restore a ban on open-pit gold mining, which had been a subject of controversy in Arias's presidency.

Social issues One of Chinchilla's main programs as president was Red de Cuido (Network of Care), which funded child care and elderly care.

Chinchilla opposed separation of church and state in Costa Rica, wishing to retain its status as a Roman Catholic nation.

Chinchilla opposed abortion and emergency contraception as president. She also opposed in vitro fertilisation, but she legalized it in April 2013 following an order from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. and in Paraguay in 2018.

Chinchilla currently teaches at Georgetown University and leads the Latin American Chair of Citizenship in the School of Government and Public Transformation of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.

Since 2016, Chinchilla has been serving as the president of the Advisory Council of She Works, a company focused on the empowerment of women; and is also a rapporteur for the freedom of expression of the Telecommunications Organization of Latin America.

Chinchilla was widowed on 15 April 2019, when her husband died of Alzheimer's. In 2020, she was Costa Rica's candidate to head the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank. Shortly before the vote, she dropped her bid, arguing that the process favored U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee Mauricio Claver-Carone.

In addition, Chinchilla holds numerous other positions, including the following: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Member of the Board of Advisers (since 2020) Atlantic Council, Member of the Advisory Council to the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Club of Madrid, Vice-President Concordia Summit, Member of the Board Council of Women World Leaders, Member Inter-American Dialogue, Member of the Board of Directors Co-Chair (since 2019) International Olympic Committee, Member (since 2019) Kofi Annan Foundation, Co-Chair of the Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age (since 2019)

Awards and recognition Laura Chinchilla in 2010Chinchilla was awarded with the “Women of the Decade in Public Life and Leadership Award” at the Women Economic Forum in Amsterdam. She holds Honorary Doctorates from the University for Peace of the United Nations, Georgetown University, and Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.

Publications She has several publications, in Spanish and English—books, monographs and articles—on issues related to the administration of justice, citizen security, and police reform. Among the most prominent are: Community Crime Prevention, Center for the Administration of Citizen Security Justice in Latin America, Siglo XXI Editors (2002). Police Reforms in Latin America, Open Society Institute (2006). Seguridad Ciudadana en América Latina y el Caribe. Laura Chinchilla and Doreen Vorndran. BID (2018). Unfulfilled Promises. Latin America Today The InterAmerican Dialogue (2019).