Rodrigo Jos� Ram�n Francisco de Jes�s Carazo Odio served as President of Costa Rica from 8 May 1978 to 8 May 1982. Carazo was born in 1926 in Cartago. Before serving as president, he was the Director of the Central Bank and General Manager for RECOPE. During and immediately following his term, Carazo played a central role in the founding of the University for Peace, a United Nations-affiliated educational institution which offers graduate programs in peace and development studies. His government also concentrated on and promoted the country's petro-chemical industry and even began exploration and digging near the Talamanca Mountain Ridge in search for petroleum. In the energy sector, his government inaugurated the hydroelectric plant in Lake Arenal. The Carazo government also regulated the excavation of gold in the southern region of the country. On the international front, Carazo had to deal mainly with the radical changes the neighboring country of Nicaragua was going through. Nicaragua had been under the control of the Somoza dictatorship for decades and Costa Rica had always opposed his rule. 

December 27th, 1926 in Cartago  /  Died:   Dec 9th, 2009