Francisco Ramón de Jesús Aguilar Barquero (21 May 1857 – 11 October 1924) was a Costa Rican lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd President of Costa Rica from 1919 to 1920. A member of the Republican Party, his administration is noted for overseeing the country’s transition back to constitutional governance following the dictatorship of the Tinoco brothers.
Early life and education
Francisco Ramón de Jesús Aguilar Barquero was born in Cartago on 21 May 1857, the son of Francisco Aguilar Cubero and María Sacramento Barquero. On 20 September 1880, he married Natalia Morúa Ortiz in Cartago. She was the daughter of Rafael Morúa y Quirós and María Josefa Clara Ortiz y Campos. The couple had eight children: Jorge Arturo, Manuel, Sara, Arturo, José Luis, Rubén, Marco Tulio, and Jorge Aguilar Morúa.
He initially worked as a schoolteacher before studying law. He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Santo Tomás in August 1881, at the age of 24. Aguilar subsequently served as a criminal judge, a professor at the Law School, an alternate magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, and president of the Costa Rican Bar Association.
Early political career
On 15 November 1886, Aguilar was appointed governor of Cartago Province by President Bernardo Soto, serving until his resignation, which was accepted in March 1887. He was first elected to the Constitutional Congress as a representative for Limón for the 1888–1892 term and was subsequently elected Secretary of Congress, a position he held until his appointment as Secretary of War and Navy in August 1889. He resigned from that post a month later, in September 1889.
Aguilar later returned to active politics and was elected in 1889 as a deputy for both Limón and Cartago for the 1890–1894 term, representing the Constitutional Democratic Party. He chose to take his seat for Cartago and served until the dissolution of Congress by President José Joaquín Rodríguez in 1892, whom Aguilar had initially supported. He then summarized the practice of law until his return to public office, when he was elected as a deputy for San José for the 1912–1916 term, representing the Republican Party.