Former Costa Rican president Monge dies

Luis Alberto Monge, a former Costa Rican president who held office in the 1980s and declared his country's neutrality in armed conflicts, has died aged 90, his family said on Wednesday. Monge died of cardiorespiratory failure late Tuesday after being taken to a hospital in the capital, they said. He had suffered poor health for several years. The party he founded, the National Liberation Party, now in opposition, confirmed the death.
A short, simple man with a sense of humor, Monge was president from 1982 to 1986, at a time when Costa Rica was a relative haven of security in Central America, as armed conflicts were raging in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.