Ramón Bernardo Soto Alfaro (12 February 1854 – 28 January[citation needed] 1931) was the Olympus President of Costa Rica from 1885 to 1889 during the Liberal State.[2]
Bernardo Soto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of Costa Rica | |
| In office 12 March 1885 – 7 November 1889[1] | |
| Preceded by | Próspero Fernández Oreamuno |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Durán Cartín |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 February 1854 Alajuela, First Costa Rican Republic |
| Died | 28 January 1931 (aged 76) San José, Costa Rica[citation needed] |
| Relations | Apolinar de Jesús Soto Quesada (father) José María Soto Alfaro (brother) |
Biography edit
Early life edit
On 12 February 1854, Soto was born to Apolinar de Jesús Soto Quesada and Joaquina Alfaro Muñoz in Alajuela. In 1871, he obtained a bachelor's degree in science and arts in San José, and on 10 December 1877, he obtained his law degree in the University of Santo Tomás, practicing until 1880. The following year he was governor of Alajuela Province. In 1882, he became Secretary of the Interior and Police, and then Secretary of the Army and Navy. On 15 May 1885, congress made him divisional general and awarded him the honarary title "Benemérito de la Patria" (Meritorious of the Country); in the same year, he was decorated by the Venezuelan government and made academician of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Spain.[3]
Presidency edit
Soto succeeded his brother-in-law, Próspero Fernández Oreamuno, when he died in office[4][5] on 12 March 1885;[1][5] until 14 April, Costa Rica was still involved in Barrios' War of Reunification. On 19 April 1885, he married Fernández's daughter Pacífica Fernández Guardia.[5] On 4 December 1885, he signed a contract with Francisco María Fuentes and Pío Víquez to allow the construction of hydroelectric-powered streetcars in San José.[6] Soto's administration continued Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez's liberal economic and national developments. Soto-appointed minister of education Mauro Fernández Acuña reformed education and in that established two new high schools in San José; he staffed them with European scholars, among them being Henri Pittier.[7] Soto's administration opposed Chinese immigration and supported segregation for those already in the country. He violated the former in allowing Minor Keith to bring in 2,000 Chinese workers, who were made to leave after their contract expired.[8] He ran unopposed in the 1886 general election[2] after his uncle-in-law, Víctor Guardia Gutiérrez, withdrew his candidacy three weeks before the first round for the "well-being of the nation". When El Nacional continued to support the Guardia candidacy, Diario de Costa Rica labelled it "unpatriotic" and responded by publishing a letter claimed to by Guardia reinforcing his decision; ultimately, Guardia never renewed his candidacy due to pressure from pro-government sectors.[9] On 24 April 1889, he and Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel de Jesús Jiménez Oreamuno signed a letter addenda that agreed that Costa Rica would not interfere with the construction of the Nicaragua Canal by the Canal Company, reinforcing the convention of arbitration signed on 10 January.[10]
During the 1889 general election, despite José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón's prospects for victory, he declared Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra president-elect. On 7 November, Rafael Yglesias Castro inspired a peasant march armed with knives and sticks in San José. Due to fear of outrage turning into bloodshed, the same day, Soto had Carlos Durán Cartín,[11] whom he appointed secretary of the interior in 1885,[12] serve as interim president for the remainder of his term. Rodríguez was his official successor. The last time Soto neared the presidency was when conspiracies and assassination attempts formed around Yglesias's second term as president after the 1897–1898 general election: suggestions by elites would have had Soto return to power but fell through, and Esquivel filled the position[13] on 8 May 1902,[1] to the agreement of Soto and Yglesias.[14]
See also edit
Sources edit
- ^ a b c El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
- ^ a b Molina Jiménez, Iván (April 2001). "Elecciones y democracia en Costa Rica, 1885-1913". Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe / European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (70): 44. ISSN 0924-0608. JSTOR 25675915.
- ^ Girón Beckless & Álvarez Hernández (2004), pp. 115–116
- ^ Defense Technical Information Center (1983), p. 57
- ^ a b c Girón Beckless & Álvarez Hernández (2004), p. 115
- ^ Sanabria Vargas, Asdrúbal (2001). "EL MANEJO HISTÓRICO DE LOS RECURSOS HÍDRICOS EN COSTA RICA CON ÉNFASIS EN EL PERÍDO INDÍGENA Y EN LOS SIGLOS XVI, XVII, XVIII Y XIX". Anuario de Estudios Centroamericanos. 27 (1): 72. ISSN 0377-7316. JSTOR 25661340.
- ^ McCook, Stuart (2002). "'Giving Plants a Civil Status': Scientific Representations of Nature and Nation in Costa Rica and Venezuela, 1885-1935". The Americas. 58 (4): 516. doi:10.1353/tam.2002.0050. ISSN 0003-1615. JSTOR 1007797. S2CID 143221580.
- ^ Narváez, Benjamín N. (15 June 2020). "The Power and Pitfalls of Patronage: Chinese Immigrants in Costa Rica during the Era of Exclusion, 1897–1943". Journal of Migration History. 6 (2). Brill: 216. doi:10.1163/23519924-00602003. S2CID 225730770.
- ^ Girón Beckless & Álvarez Hernández (2004), pp. 118–119
- ^ Foreign Office (1887–1889). "Construction of a Canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Further Correspondence (Folder 5)". Confidential Print: Latin America. Adam Matthew Digital. p. 39.
- ^ Biesanz, Biesanz & Biesanz (1999), p. 25
- ^ Palmer, Steven Paul (2003). From popular medicine to medical populism: doctors, healers, and public power in Costa Rica, 1800-1940. Durham: De Gruyter. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8223-8469-4.
- ^ Biesanz, Biesanz & Biesanz (1999), p. 25–26
- ^ Defense Technical Information Center (1983), p. 59
- Bibliography
- Biesanz, Mavis Hiltunen; Biesanz, Richard; Biesanz, Karen Zubris (1999). "History". The Ticos: Culture and Social Change in Costa Rica. Boulder, Colorado: De Gruyter. ISBN 9781685854058.
- Defense Technical Information Center (1 November 1983). Area Handbook Series: Costa Rica, a Country Study. Defense Technical Information Center.
- Girón Beckless, Jéssica; Álvarez Hernández, Frank (2004). "El proceso electoral costarricense de 1886. Elementos fácticos y normativos". Revista de Ciencias Jurídicas (in Spanish) (105). doi:10.15517/rcj.2004.13346 (inactive 31 January 2024). ISSN 2215-5155.
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External links edit
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