Cleto González Víquez


Cleto de Jesús González Víquez was, on two occasions, the President of Costa Rica, firstly as the 18th president in 1906 and lastly as the 26th president in 1928. 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.
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.

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.
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.
Main achievements of Cleto González Víquez's administration: