ABSTRACT
Oscar Arias is the former President of Costa Rica and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize. He continues to promote peace, human rights, democracy, and development through the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. In this chapter, President Arias describes personal experiences and the role of Costa Rica in the management of regional crises in Central America. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948. In 1986, a meeting known as Esquipulas I was held, in which the Central American presidents agreed to advocate democratization within the region. The Arias Peace Plan proposed the peaceful resolution of the Central American conflict, beginning with the inception of electoral, democratic, and pluralist processes in all countries. When in August 1987 the five presidents signed the Esquipulas 11 Accords, which incorporated the idea that peace, democracy, and development are inseparable, the region moved much closer to ending the arms race. President Arias compares the Esquipulas process with the Contadora group initiative, and lists a number of reasons why Esquipulas was more effective in promoting peace. He suggests that the style of Esquipulas might well be applied to other regional crises.
