Editing Foreign relations of Costa Rica (section)

==Relations to Central America==

In 1987, then President [[Óscar Arias]] authored a regional plan that served as the basis for the [[Esquipulas Peace Agreement]] and Arias was awarded the 1987 [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for his work. Arias also promoted change in the USSR-backed Nicaraguan government of the era. Costa Rica also hosted several rounds of negotiations between the [[El Salvador|Salvadoran Government]] and the [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front]], aiding El Salvador's efforts to emerge from civil war and culminating in that country's 1994 free and fair elections. Costa Rica has been a strong proponent of regional arms-limitation agreements. Former President [[Miguel Ángel Rodríguez]] recently proposed the abolition of all [[Central America]]n militaries and the creation of a regional counternarcotics police force in their stead.

With the establishment of democratically elected governments in all Central American nations by the 1990s, Costa Rica turned its focus from regional conflicts to the pursuit of neoliberal policies on the isthmus. The influence of these policies, along with the US invasion of Panama, was instrumental in drawing [[Panama]] into the Central American model of [[neoliberalism]]. Costa Rica also participated in the multinational Partnership for Democracy and Development in Central America.

Regional political integration has not proven attractive to Costa Rica. The country debated its role in the Central American integration process under former President Calderon. Costa Rica has sought concrete economic ties with its Central American neighbors rather than the establishment of regional political institutions, and it chose not to join the [[Central American Parliament]].