José Miguel Alfaro Rodriguez
Former Vice President
Republic of Costa Rica
Founder, Senior Partner
Consorcio Internacional de Abogados
Professional
At present, Mr. José Miguel Alfaro Rodríguez is a corporate business and institutional counselor. Previously he served as a professor of law, in a number of positions within the government of Costa Rica, as well as founder and senior partner of the law firm Consorcio Internacional de Abogados.
He began his career in 1964 as a professor of law at the University of Costa Rica's Law School. Mr. Alfaro taught "Introduction to the Study of Law and Political Science" and "Central American Integration Law." In 1968, he co-authored the book Derecho Comunitario Centroamericano, edited by the Instituto Interamericano de Estudios Jurídicos Internacionales. He was appointed director of postgraduate courses on Central American Integration Law offered by the referred Institute in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 1966 and in San José, Costa Rica, in 1967. From 1969 to 1977 Mr. Alfaro served as Legal Counsel of the Cámara de Industrias of Costa Rica and as well as for the Federación de Cámaras de Industrias de Centroamérica (FECAICA).
From May 8, 1978 to May 8, 1982, Mr. Alfaro served as vice president of the republic in the constitutional term. As part of his responsibilities he was inter-institutional and inter-sectorial coordinator of diverse programs on integral development and community participation, with emphasis in poverty and marginality, in particular, in the areas of health, small and medium enterprises, handcrafts, cooperatives and municipal planning seminars. He also undertook diverse programs to organize a number of types of agreements: inter-institutional, government and labor, private enterprise and community organizations. Also, Mr. Alfaro had active participation in the negotiation of the treaty that created the United Nations University for Peace.
From July 1, 1980 to May 8, 1982, he served as minister of economics. As such, he was in charge of Central American integration affairs, rector of the tourism and foreign trade sector, member of the board of directors of the Central Bank and coordinator of the negotiation of the foreign debt. Mr. Alfaro is a promoter of tourism, particularly in the areas of small and medium enterprise in rural, ecological, academic or special interest tourism.
Founder and senior partner of the law firm Consorcio Internacional de Abogados, Mr. Alfaro has participated in numerous specialist meetings and international conferences on integral development and regional integration. He has rendered services as external counselor since 1965 to, among others: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Ministerio de Comercio Exterior (COMEX), Ministerio de Hacienda, Ministerio de Salud Pública, Mayors of the Counties of Goicoechea, Curridabat, San Ramón, and Jiménez, Unión Cantonal de Asociaciones de Desarrollo Comunal de San Ramón, Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE), Banco Popular y de Desarrollo Comunal, Secretaría General de la Integración Centroamericana (SG-SICA), Secretaría General del Sistema de Integración Económica (SIECA), Secretaría de la Coordinación Educativa y Cultural Centroamericana (SG-CECC), Secretaría del Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (SG-CAC), Secretaría del Consejo Monetario Centroamericano (SG-CMCA), Instituto de Nutrición de Centroamérica y Panamá (INCAP), Instituto Centroamericano de Administración Pública (ICAP), Consejo Universitario Centroamericano (CSUCA), Secretaría del Comité Regional de Acción Social (SG-CRAS), Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE), Centro para la Prevención de Desastres Naturales en América Central (CEPREDENAC), Comité Coordinador Regional de Instituciones de Agua Potable y Saneamiento de Centroamérica, Panamá y República Dominicana (CAPRE), Comité Regional de Recursos Hidráulicos (CRRH), Corporación Centroamericana de Servicios de Navegación Aérea (COCESNA), Federación de Entidades Privadas de Centroamérica y Panamá (FEDEPRICAP), Comité Coordinador de Empresarios de la Micro Empresa de la Región Central de América (COCEMI), Confederación Centroamericana de Trabajadores (CCT), Iniciativa para la Integración Centroamericana (ICIC), Centro para la Promoción de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa en Centroamérica (CENPROMYPE), Comité Consultivo del Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (CC-SICA), Corte Centroamericana de Justicia (CCJ), Comisión Centroamericana de Acreditación de la Educación Superior (CCA), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GMBH, Fundación por la Paz y la Democracia (FUNPADEM), The National Law Center for Inter American Free Trade, Presidencia Ejecutiva del Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Answers Media Inc.
Mr. Alfaro is also co-founder of the Fundación Costarricense de Desarrollo (FUCODES) and the Asociación Costarricense de Gerentes y Empresarios (Acoge). He has served deputy high justice of the Supreme Court in the Sala Tercera (1991-1995) and the Sala Constitucional de la Corte Suprema de Justicia (1997-2001, 2001-2005).
Education
Mr. Alfaro obtained law degree at the University of Costa Rica School of Law in 1963.
Memberships & Affiliations | Awards & Honors
• Member, Fundación de Amigos de la Universidad Para la Paz
• Honorary Founder Member, Fundación Omar Dengo
• Member, Board of Greentique Hotels
• Member, Board of the Fundación Integral Campesina (FINCA)
• Council Member, Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED) (2007-2012)
• Member, Dean’s International Council, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
Personal
Mr. Alfaro is Costa Rican with residence in San José. He has been married to Patricia Gómez León, a pharmacist, since 1986. They have two children. Mr. Alfaro has four children and six grandchildren from a previous marriage. His native language is Spanish and he is fluent in English.
