President of Costa Rica (1885–1889)
Ramón Bernardo Soto Alfaro (12 February 1854 – 1931) was the Olympus President of Costa Rica from 1885 to 1889 during the Liberal State.
Biography.
Early life.
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.
Presidency.
Soto succeeded his brother-in-law, Próspero Fernández Oreamuno, when he died in office on 12 March 1885; 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. 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. 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. 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. He ran unopposed in the 1886 general election 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. 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.
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, whom he appointed secretary of the interior in 1885, 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 on 8 May 1902, to the agreement of Soto and Yglesias.
Sources.
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