Carlos Alvarado Quesada
Carlos Andrés Alvarado Quesada (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos alβaˈɾaðo keˈsaða]; born 14 January 1980) is a Costa Rican politician, writer, journalist, and political scientist who served as the 48th president of Costa Rica[2] from 8 May 2018 to 8 May 2022. A member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC), Alvarado previously served as Minister of Labor and Social Security during the presidency of Luis Guillermo Solís.[3]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Alvarado and the second or maternal family name is Quesada.
Carlos Alvarado Quesada
Alfredo Hasbum Camacho
Fernando Marín Rojas
Emilio Arias Rodríguez
Gabriel
Alvarado, who was 38 years old at the time of his presidential inauguration, became the youngest serving Costa Rican president since Alfredo González Flores who took office in 1914 at the age of 36.
Education[edit]
Alvarado holds a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science from the University of Costa Rica. He was a Chevening Scholar from 2008 to 2009, earning a master's degree in development studies from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in Falmer, England.[3][4]
Personal life[edit]
Alvarado was born into a middle-class family in the Pavas District, San José canton in central Costa Rica, on 14 January 1980. His father, Alejandro Alvarado Induni, was an engineer, and his mother, Adelia Quesada Alvarado, was a homemaker. He has an older brother named Federico and a younger sister named Irene.[5]
Alvarado met his future wife, Claudia Dobles Camargo while riding the school bus that they both used to travel in, to go to elementary school.[6]
Alvarado is Roman Catholic.[7]
Career[edit]
Literary career[edit]
In 2006, Alvarado Quesada published the anthology of stories Transcripciones Infieles with Perro Azul.[8] That same year, he obtained the Young Creation Award of Editorial Costa Rica with the novel La Historia de Cornelius Brown.[8] In 2012 he published the historical novel Las Posesiones which portrays the dark historical period in Costa Rica during which the government confiscated the properties of Germans and Italians during World War II.[8]
Early political career[edit]
He served as an advisor to the Citizen Action Party's group in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica in the 2006-2010 period. He was a consultant to the Institute of Development Studies of the United Kingdom in financing SMEs,[3] Department Manager of Dish Care & Air Care (Procter & Gamble Latin America), Director of Communication for the presidential campaign of Luis Guillermo Solís, professor in the School of Sciences of Collective Communication of the University of Costa Rica and the School of Journalism Of the Universidad Latina de Costa Rica.[3] During the Solís Rivera administration, he served as Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion and Executive President of the Joint Social Welfare Institute, the institution charged with combating poverty and giving state aid to the population with scarce resources. After the resignation of Víctor Morales Mora as minister, Alvarado was appointed minister of Labor.[3][9]