ODUBER QUIRS, DANIEL

born Aug. 25, 1921, San Jos, Costa Rica died Oct. 13, 1991, San Jos president of Costa Rica (197478), member of the founding junta of its Second Republic (1948), and a founder of the National Liberation Party (PLN). Oduber worked his way through law school in San Jos and then opened a law firm there. Later he studied at McGill University in Montreal and at the Sorbonne in Paris. He served as Costa Rica's minister of foreign relations in 196264, cultivating good relations with the United States. In 1966 Oduber was narrowly defeated in his bid for the presidency by the moderate conservative Jos Joaqun Trejos. Oduber became president of the PLN in 1970 and was elected president of the Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1971, and 1972. In this role he successfully promoted reforms in social welfare, electoral and banking regulations, and education. Elected president in 1974 in the midst of economic difficulties, he took measures to restore the economy by reducing inflation and improving the balance of trade. He continued to expand social-welfare programs, instituted a land-reform policy, and championed environmental-protection measures. Oduber restored legal status to the Communist Party in 1975 and in 1977 reopened diplomatic relations with Cuba. Oduber's presidency was shaken by major scandal when he was accused of having won his 1974 campaign with money contributed by the fugitive American financier Robert Lee Vesco. He admitted that the PLN had borrowed funds from Vesco but repaid them when their source became known.