Cleto González Víquez

Cleto de Jesús González Víquez (13 October 1858 – 23 September 1937) was, on two occasions, the President of Costa Rica, firstly as the 18th president in 1906 and lastly as the 26th president in 1928.[1] Don Cleto was born in Barva, Heredia on October 13, 1858, as the son of Cleto González Pérez and Aurora Víquez Murillo. He was a renowned Costa Rican politician, lawyer, and historian.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is González and the second or maternal family name is Víquez.
Cleto González Víquez
18th President of Costa Rica
In office
May 8, 1906 – May 8, 1910
Preceded byAscensión Esquivel
Succeeded byRicardo Jiménez (first term)
26th President of Costa Rica
In office
May 8, 1928 – May 8, 1932
Preceded byRicardo Jiménez (second term)
Succeeded byRicardo Jiménez (third term)
Personal details
Born(1858-10-13)October 13, 1858
Barva, Heredia, Costa Rica
DiedSeptember 23, 1937(1937-09-23) (aged 78)
San José, Costa Rica
Political partyNational Union Party
SpouseAdela Herrán Bonilla
ChildrenOdilie, Guillermo, Enrique, Emilia, Fernando, Clemencia, Manuel Antonio, and Adela González Herrán
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer, Historian
Signature

He married in 1889 to Adela Herrán Bonilla and died in San José, Costa Rica on September 23, 1937. Cleto González Víquez was given the title of Benemérito de la Patria on October 5, 1944.[2]

President of Costa Rica

Don Cleto began his political career at a young age. He was a mayor of San José, Secretary of the State of President Bernardo Soto Alfaro, Undersecretary of the Government and Police, among other offices.

He also became president of the College of Lawyers and of the Junta de Caridad de San José (today the Junta de Protección Social).[3]

From 1890 until 1902 he belonged to the opposition party. In 1905 he was elected President of the Republic of Costa Rica for the first time. He governed with a lot of tact, taking into account that he did not have a majority in Congress.

During his second term in office, from 1928 to 1932, González Víquez used Keynesian ideas to stave off further effects of the Great Depression. He increased public spending and ratcheted up public infrastructure projects.[4]

Main achievements of Cleto González Víquez's administration:

  • He concluded the railroad to the Pacific in 1910
  • He dictated the first Law of Railroads
  • He expanded the System of Pipes of San José.
  • He built the old building of the National Library
  • Reinforced the municipal services
  • He created the accounts receivable of Work in 1928 and Social Forecast and impulsed the making of a Code of Work
  • He was prompted the accounts receivable of Agriculture they were created and Stockbreeding and the National Service of Electricity in 1928
  • He created the attorney general's office of the Republic
  • He founded the National Patronage of the Infancy
  • He founded the First National Business of Air Transportations in 1932
  • Inaugurated the dock of Puntarenas in 1928
  • Paved the streets of San José

References
  1. El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
  2. "Beneméritos de la Patria - Cleto González Víquez". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  3. es:San José (Costa Rica)#Junta de Protección Social
  4. "3er Fasciculo Mandatarios de Costa Rica". La Nacion. 6 June 2013.
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