Nobel Costa Rica: A Timely Report on Our Peaceful Pro-Yankee, Central American Neighbor (A Joan Kahn Book)

The author shares his impressions of the South American nation, and describes the key challenges it will face in the future

YA-- Rolbein introduces Costa Rica to American readers by discussing its people and their unusually (for Central America) peaceful politics, and by offering a readable history of recent developments, beginning in 1948 with Don Pepe Figueres' abolition of the Costa Rican army. This title is meant to be read rather than used for researched, and it is written in an appropriately readable style. Rolbein travels the country to illustrate his points, and he ties his discussion to United States' politics, especially Oliver North, which brings the subject closer to North American concerns. While this book is not likely to be circulated widely, those interested in a more in-depth understanding of Central American politics will appreciate it.
- Dorcas Hand, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Tex.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This informal but informed portrait of "a multifaceted jewel of a country," where the principal domestic product is peaceful tranquillity, also depicts its celebrated young leader, Oscar Arias, whose pragmatic neutrality balances this army-less republic between Nicaragua and Panama, Ortega and Noriega, the Contras and El Salvador's rebels. Rolbein notes that in becoming Costa Rica's president and winning the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, Arias achieved two of his major goalsthe third being to serve as secretary-general of the United Nations. Included are a brief history of the country, with emphasis on the career of Jose Figueres, Arias's political godfather and the man who abolished the army in 1948, an outline of the Arias peace plan for Central America and a transcript of Arias' rousing after-dinner address in Oslo. Rolbein writes for Boston magazine.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.