Editing Óscar Arias (section)

==Second presidency==
[[File:Oscar Arias 8p050806kh-0829-398v.jpg|thumb|Arias in 2006]]
[[File:Barack Obama and Óscar Arias Sánchez.jpg|thumb|Arias with [[Barack Obama]] on 17 April 2009]]
The Costa Rican constitution had been amended in 1969 to include a clause forbidding former presidents to seek re-election. Arias challenged this at the Sala IV, the Constitutional Chamber of the [[Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica]], which initially rejected his application in September 2000. In 2003, a group of Arias supporters presented an unconstitutionality challenge against the 1969 constitutional amendment forbidding re-election, and this time the ruling in April 2003 struck down the prohibition against non-consecutive re-election.<ref>[http://impreso.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2007/07/18/nacionales/54109 "Reeleccion seduce a los presidentes de America"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913040137/http://impreso.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2007/07/18/nacionales/54109 |date=13 September 2013 }}, El Nuevo Diario, Managua, 18 July 2007. Retrieved July 2009; [http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2003/abril/05/pais1.html "Reelecion presidencial: Arias sin prohobicion para postularse"], La Nacion, Costa Rica, 5 April 2003.</ref> This decision was denounced as a "state blow" or "coup d'état" by ex-president [[Luis Alberto Monge]].<ref>Luis Alberto Monge (20 March 2004). [http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2004/marzo/20/opinion8.html Reelección: desafío a la Constitución]. Nacion.com. Retrieved 2012-09-15.</ref><ref>[http://lospobresdelatierra.org/sepamosserlibres/otrostemas/monge0405.html Luis Alberto Monge: La violencia engendra violencia – www.sepamosserlibres.org]. Lospobresdelatierra.org (April 2005). Retrieved 2012-09-15.</ref>

Arias announced in 2004 that he intended to run again for president in the [[2006 Costa Rican presidential election|February 2006 general elections]].  By then, he was the only living former president who was not either in jail, under indictment or facing an investigation.  Though for years private polling companies and several news media published polls predicting Arias would win by a wide margin, the election was initially deemed too close to call. A month later, on 7 March, after a manual recount, the official results showed Arias beat center-left contender [[Ottón Solís]] by 18,169 votes (1.2% of valid votes cast), and finished just a few thousand votes over the 40 percent threshold required to capture the presidency in a single round. He took the oath of office at noon on 8 May 2006 at the [[Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (1924)|National Stadium]]. In his speech on 15 September 2008, he admitted that he was tired because of the criticism of his opponents.

On 1 June 2007, he switched Costa Rica's diplomatic recognition from the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan) to the [[People's Republic of China]], making Costa Rica the 167th nation in the world to do so. Subsequently, under diplomatic and financial pressure from Beijing, he induced the [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]], a fellow [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate, to postpone indefinitely a proposed and much anticipated visit during Beijing's suppression of controversial riots in [[Tibet]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/grupo-tibetano-arias-pidio-al-dalai-lama-que-no-venga/GSTMB3JYYZEATI7FARCXBS444U/story|title = Grupo tibetano: Arias pidió al Dalái Lama que no venga| date=20 August 2008 }}</ref>

At the [[5th Summit of the Americas]] in [[Trinidad and Tobago]], on 18 April 2009, Arias gave a speech on the topic "We've been doing something wrong". Directed at fellow Latin American leaders, he decried Latin America's lack of development compared to other parts of the world, calling for pragmatism, and more resources directed at education rather than militaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/abril/26/opinion1944940.html |title=ALGO HICIMOS MAL: Palabras del presidente Óscar Arias en la Cumbre de las Américas |access-date=2009-04-29 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429101307/http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/abril/26/opinion1944940.html |archive-date=29 April 2009 }}. Trinidad y Tobago. Nacion (18 April 2009).</ref>

===Mediator in 2009 Honduran Constitutional Crisis===
{{See also|2009 Honduran constitutional crisis|Roberto Micheletti#Presidency of Honduras}}

In 2009, the [[Supreme Court of Honduras]] issued an arrest warrant for Honduran President [[Manuel Zelaya]] because of violations of the constitution and laws.<ref>
On 12 November 2008, the Supreme Court of Justice determined that the modifications to articles 239 and 240 promulgated by Congress in 1998 and 2002 were unconstitutional and returned these two articles to their state in the 1982 constitution. [http://www.laprensahn.com/index.php/content/view/full/67916/ Vigentes artículos pétreos]. Retrieved 5 August 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090803135911/http://www.laprensahn.com/index.php/content/view/full/67916/ Archived] 5 August 2009.</ref><ref name=art239>Articulo 239: El ciudS Congress Communiqué explaining why ex President Zelaya was removed. Accessdate 9 July 2009</ref> Two days later, the [[National Congress of Honduras]] (in which Zelaya's own party held 62 out of 128 seats, more than any other party), also voted to dismiss Zelaya.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laprensagrafica.com/el-salvador/lodeldia/42701-micheletti-podria-asumir-en-honduras.html |title=Micheletti podría asumir en Honduras |language=es |date=28 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106170618/http://www.laprensagrafica.com/el-salvador/lodeldia/42701-micheletti-podria-asumir-en-honduras.html |archive-date=6 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.lapagina.com.sv/internacionales/11730/2009/06/28/Micheletti-seria-el-nuevo-presidente-de-Honduras
 |title        = Micheletti sería el nuevo presidente de Honduras
 |publisher    = Diario digital de noticias de El Salvador
 |date         = 28 June 2009
 |language     = es
 |access-date  = 17 August 2009
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091204140657/http://www.lapagina.com.sv/internacionales/11730/2009/06/28/Micheletti-seria-el-nuevo-presidente-de-Honduras
 |archive-date = 4 December 2009
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/28/honduras.president.arrested/index.html
|title=Honduran Congress names provisional president
|publisher=CNN
| date=28 June 2009}}</ref>
Zelaya fled to Costa Rica.  The Honduran constitution mandated that the head of Congress, [[Roberto Micheletti]], who was next in the presidential line of succession, becomes the provisional head of state since [[Vice President of Costa Rica|Vice President]] [[Elvin Ernesto Santos]] had resigned in December 2008 to run for president. Micheletti's term ended 27 January 2010.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/congress-names-new-interim-honduran-president-20090629-d1fb.html
|title=Honduran president overthrown, new leader voted in
|work=The Sydney Morning Herald
|date=29 June 2009
}}</ref>

Arias began serving as mediator between Zelaya and Micheletti in the [[2009 Honduran constitutional crisis]]. Representatives of the two Hondurans met with Arias on various occasions but so far have failed to reach any kind of agreement.  As described above (with factual citations), Arias himself was initially prohibited by Costa Rica's constitutional court from another term, due to constitutional [[term limit]]s, but this was reversed using legal means, with the consent of the Costa Rican Sala IV court, unlike in Honduras. New elections in Honduras are planned for 29 November 2009. Micheletti's government stated on 2 July 2009 that it is willing to hold this year's presidential election early. Arias presented a seven-point agreement, which calls for the return of Zelaya as president – a condition deemed unacceptable to the interim government. Zelaya's representatives accepted the Arias proposal "in principle" but Micheletti's representatives balked at the key point of Zelaya returning to power in Honduras.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/honduras-negotiations-snag-over-unity-government-1.420590|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101023331/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090728/honduras_leader_090728/20090728?hub=World&s_name=5|url-status=live|archive-date=1 January 2013|title=Honduras negotiations snag over unity government|publisher=CTV (Canada)|date=28 July 2009}}</ref>