Costa Rican President Arias Visits Peres On
62nd anniversary of UN Resolution 181
By GREER FAY CASHMAN, JPost.com
It was entirely appropriate that Costa Rican
President Oscar Arias Sanchez call on
President Shimon Peres on Sunday, the date
being November 29, the 62nd anniversary of
the fateful UN Resolution 181 on the
partition of Palestine.
Costa Rica was one of the 33 countries that
voted "yes" in 1947, and less than a year
later, in 1948, was among the first
countries to recognize the nascent State of
Israel.
Until 2006, it was one of only two
countries, along with El Salvador, that
maintained an embassy in Jerusalem, but both
eventually yielded to political pressures
and joined the other countries that maintain
embassies on the coastal plain.
This has been a milestone year for Costa
Rica, which is celebrating the 120th
anniversary of its first free elections and
the 60th anniversary of its decision to
permanently abolish its army.
Costa Rica is reputed to be one of the most
democratic countries in Latin America, with
a strong commitment to education and the
environment. In 2007, the Costa Rican
government announced its intention to be a
carbon neutral country by 2021. Costa Rica
is already a global leader in green energy.
Peres is an ardent advocate for green
energy; thus, the two presidents had much to
discuss, not only in terms of history but
also the future.
Both have also authored several books and
both are Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Sanchez was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1987
in recognition of his work for peace in
Central America. His efforts led to the
signing in Guatemala in August 1987 of a
peace accord of which he was the main
architect. The Nobel Prize committee praised
his outstanding contribution towards the
return of stability and peace in a region
long torn by strife and civil war.
Peres, together with Yitzhak Rabin and
Yasser Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1994 in recognition of concluding
and following up the Oslo Accords.
In greeting Sanchez at a luncheon he hosted
in his honor, Peres described him as "a
personal friend and a man of peace."
Peres commended Costa Rica for having an
educational focus rather than a military
force, saying: "The future does not depend
on soldiers but on teachers."
Peres also lauded Costa Rica for being ahead
of the rest of the world in foreseeing the
need for liberation from pollution.
In what could arguably be termed the most
poetic address ever delivered at Beit
Hanassi, Sanchez said that it was with great
joy that he found himself once more in the
Holy Land "by the side of my treasured
friend Shimon Peres."
Their paths had crossed many times said
Sanchez and their "steps march to the same
rhythm to the strong and steady beat of
peace that will not be ignored even in
troubled times... to the beat of a distant
drum."
Quoting from the speech that Peres had made
when he received his own Nobel Prize,
Sanchez spoke of the visions of peace of a
dreamer in the hills of the Galilee, who had
said in Stockholm: "Not all of it came true,
but not all of it went to waste. The part
that came true created a new landscape. The
part that did not come true resides in our
hearts."
Turning to Peres, Sanchez said: "The vision
of peace resides not only in your heart but
in the hearts of many others - in the hearts
of Costa Rica and all the friends of Israel.
- in the hearts of all those who seek a
solution to violent conflicts on this
planet."
Sanchez launched into his own vision, which
was almost biblical in content of a day when
people of all faiths and nations will gather
in Jerusalem, "where love began and war
ended....where people live in harmony and
freedom."
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President Shimon Peres greets Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez at his residence on Sunday.
Photo: GPO |
