“While the armed forces have intervened in the political affairs of every other Central American country over the past fifty years, with disastrous results, in Costa Rica we have peacefully transferred power from one administration to the next every four years.” CountryPastPoliticalAffairOver The PastArmed Forces Author:Oscar Arias
“I would like to see the U.S. fighting another war, perhaps in addition to that against terror: a war on poverty, illiteracy, disease and environmental degradation. It is certainly within the power of your country to act on all of these fronts, but, unfortunately, your leaders have become obsessed with a single issue.” WarCountryFightingLeaderPovertyEnvironmentalTerrorObsessedIlliteracyWar On Poverty Author:Oscar Arias
“The best way to perpetuate poverty is spending on arms, and poverty itself is a form of violence. The wealthy industrialized countries have been too slow to recognize this. I hope that in this new century and new millennium, the world will learn that if you want peace, you must prepare for peace, plan for peace, work for it, and comply with its dictates. Lasting peace will never be achieved with the instruments of war.” WorldWarCountryPovertyViolenceWealthy Author:Oscar Arias
“It's clear to me that many weapons sales are very short-sighted. The U.S. and other arms-producing countries sell weapons for a variety of reasons, but most sales involve strategic interest or profit motivation, or both.” CountryReasonMotivationInterestVariety Author:Oscar Arias
“We are calling on countries that supply weapons to comply with certain restrictions: not to sell weapons to human rights abusers, not to sell them to governments or groups carrying out aggression against states, not to make weapons sales that could disrupt security or development in the receiving region. These are in many ways common sense principles, but sadly, there seems to be very little common sense in the international arms trade.” CountryCommonSecurityTradeHuman RightsCommon SenseAggression Author:Oscar Arias
“Peace consists, very largely, in the fact of desiring it with all one's soul. The inhabitants of my small country, Costa Rica, have realized those words by Erasmus. Mine is an unarmed people, whose children have never seen a fighter or a tank or a warship.” PeopleChildrenSoulCountryFactsPeaceMinesFighterTanksUnarmedSmall CountriesCosta RicaWarshipsErasmus Author:Oscar Arias
“Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions by many people in many countries. It is an attitude, a way of life, a way of solving problems and resolving conflicts. It cannot be forced on the smallest nation or enforced by the largest. It cannot ignore our differences or overlook our common interests. It requires us to work and live together.” PeopleWayCountryProblemTogetherHumanityNationsPeaceProcessInterestDifferencesDecisionCommonAttitudeConflictSmallestProblem SolvingNever EndingAchieving PeaceCommon InterestsResolving Conflict Author:Oscar Arias
“My country is a country of teachers. It is therefore a country of peace. We discuss our successes and failures in complete freedom. Because our country is a country of teachers, we closed the army camps, and our children go about with books under their arms, not with rifles on their shoulders. We believe in dialogue, in agreement, in reaching a consensus.” BelieveChildrenBookCountryTeacherArmsArmyOur ChildrenShouldersDialogueOur CountryTortureReachingAgreementCampsConsensusSuccess And FailureRiflesComplete Freedom Author:Oscar Arias