Abel Pacheco de la Espriella (born 22 December 1933, San José) was president of Costa Rica between 2002 and 2006, representing the Social Christian Unity Party (Partido Unidad Social Cristiana – PUSC). He ran on a platform to continue free market reforms and to institute an austerity program, and was elected, in a second electoral round, with 58% of the vote in April 2002. The following table contains a list of the presidents and heads of state of Costa Rica since Central American independence from Spain and Mexico. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría (born 9 January 1940) is a Costa Rican economist, businessman, and politician. ... Dr. Óscar Rafael de Jesús Arias Sánchez (born 13 September 1941, in Heredia) was the President of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990. ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... |} San José is the capital and largest city of the nation of Costa Rica. ... The Social Christian Unity Party (Partido de Unidad Socialcristiana) is a political party in Costa Rica. ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... |} San José is the capital and largest city of the nation of Costa Rica. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Social Christian Unity Party (Partido de Unidad Socialcristiana) is a political party in Costa Rica. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for April, 2002. ...

He was the sixth child of a banana farmer. Part of his childhood was spent in the province of Limón on the Caribbean coast, but he returned to the capital to complete his secondary education. He then went on, aided by scholarships he had won, to study medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City and psychiatry at Louisiana State University in the United States. Limón, also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of the homonymous province of Costa Rica. ... The library of National Autonomous University of Mexico. ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, México D.F. or simply México, pronounced /mexiko/ in IPA) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. ... Memorial Tower. ...

During this time period, Pacheco participated in the illegal counter-revolution 1955 attempt including invasion from Nicaragua lead by former president Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia. He drove an armored car with a mounted machine gun. This failed invasion was a vicious but unsuccessful attempt to try to overthrow the freely and democratic elected government of Jose Figueres Ferrer (1953-1958). The invasion, back-up by Nicaragua's dictator (Antonio Somoza Garcia) was condemmed by the OAS and the international community. Costa Rica, having disbanded the formal army in 1949 set up a hastly prepared national force that repelled the invasion stopping the Calderon Guardia forces in the Hacienda Santa Rosa in northern Guanacaste. The invasion failed and the perpetuors were later pardoned and were able to return to Costa Rica in the late 50's during Mario Echandi's presidency.

During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s he was a popular presenter of cultural programmes on Costa Rican television. During this time he continued to teach at the University of Costa Rica and personally attended to customers at the gentleman's outfitters, El Palacio del Pantalón, that he had established in downtown San José in the mid-1980s. He also wrote a series of novels and a number of popular songs. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... MacGyver is one of the symbols of the 1980s in America The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... The University of Costa Rica (in Spanish, Universidad de Costa Rica, abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. ...

On 1 February 1998 he was elected to serve as a party-list deputy in Costa Rica's unicameral Legislative Assembly, representing the province of San José for the PUSC. February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... The Legislative Assembly ( Spanish: Asamblea Legislativa) is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica. ...

In the run-up to the 2002 presidential election, the PUSC party convention selected him to be its candidate by an overwhelming 76% of the delegates' votes on 10 June 2001. His candidacy was seen as a victory for the rank-and-file members over the party's entrenched hierarchy. For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

In the first round of the election Pacheco received 38.6% of the vote: just short of the 40% needed to avoid a run-off. On 7 April 2002, in the second round – the first time the mechanism had been used since the rules were introduced – Pacheco got 58% of the vote, beating Rolando Araya Monge of the liberal PLN by a narrow margin. April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... The National Liberation Party (Spanish: Partido Liberación Nacional; commonly abbreviated as PLN) is a political party in Costa Rica. ...