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Article: About face! A world without armies! Costa Rica's past President, Oscar Arias Sanchez, explains his vision to Chris Richards.(DRILLS FOR NONVIOLENT RECRUITS)(Interview)
- Article from:
- New Internationalist
- Article date:
- August 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 New Internationalist Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DR OSCAR ARIAS SANCHEZ is running for the presidency of Costa Rica again. He's already campaigning for elections that will take place in February next year. So, when I contact him for an interview about the abolition of world armies, I'm rather surprised that he's got time to talk. But then again, I really shouldn't be: he has been a passionate international advocate for demilitarization for two decades now.
The Central American country that he led from 1986 to 1990 has had no army for nearly 60 years. Following a civil war that lasted just five weeks, but killed 2,000 people, the victorious leader Jose Figueres made a revolutionary pronouncement on 1 December ...