Manuel Mora (politician)

{{one source|date=March 2022}} {{Short description|Costa Rican politician (1909–1994)}} {{Family name hatnote|Mora|Valverde|lang=Hispanic American}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Manuel Mora Valverde | image = Manuel Mora Valverde.jpg | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|size=100%|list=[[Order of Friendship of Peoples|OFP]]}} | office = 1st Secretary-General of the [[People's Vanguard Party (Costa Rica)|People's Vanguard Party]] | term_start = 1943 | term_end = 1984 | predecessor = | successor = | office1 = Deputy of the [[Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica]] | term_start1 = 1 May 1970 | term_end1 = 30 April 1974 | predecessor1 = Luis Alberto Azofeifa Solfa | successor1 = Eduardo Mora Valverde | constituency1 = [[San José (Legislative Assembly constituency)|San José]] (18th office) | office2 = Deputy of the [[Constitutional Congress of Costa Rica|Constitutional Congress]] | term_start2 = 1 May 1934 | term_end2 = 30 April 1948 | constituency2 = [[San José Province]] | party = [[Socialist Action Party (Costa Rica)|Socialist Action Party]] (1968–1994) | other_party = [[People's Vanguard Party (Costa Rica)|People's Vanguard Party]] (1931–1984)<br/>[[Costa Rican People's Party]] | birth_name = Manuel Luis Mora Valverde | birth_date = {{birth date|1909|08|27|df=y}} | birth_place = [[San José, Costa Rica|San José]], [[First Costa Rican Republic|Costa Rica]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1994|12|29|1909|08|27|df=y}} | death_place = San José, [[Costa Rica]] | relations = [[Patricia Mora Castellanos]] (niece) | children = 1 }}

'''Manuel Luis Mora Valverde''' (27 August 1909 – 29 December 1994) was a Costa Rican lawyer, politician and labor leader who played a central role in the development of the country's [[Labour movement|labor movement]] and social reform agenda during the mid-20th century. He was a founding figure of organized [[communism]] in Costa Rica and remained an influential actor in national politics for several decades.

Born in [[San José, Costa Rica|San José]], Mora helped found the Workers and Farmers Party in 1931, which was later renamed the [[People's Vanguard Party (Costa Rica)|People's Vanguard Party]] (''Partido Vanguardia Popular''). As a political leader and legislator, he was closely associated with the [[Social Guarantees]] enacted during the 1940s, including labor protections and the expansion of social welfare legislation. He was elected as a deputy to the [[Constitutional Congress of Costa Rica|Constitutional Congress]] for [[San José Province|San José]] in [[1934 Costa Rican parliamentary election|1934]], and re-elected in [[1938 Costa Rican parliamentary election|1938]], [[1942 Costa Rican parliamentary election|1942]] and [[1946 Costa Rican parliamentary election|1946]]. He was also a presidential candidate for the [[1940 Costa Rican general election|1940]] and [[1974 Costa Rican general election|1974]] elections.

Mora is widely credited with providing the principal theoretical foundations for what became known as [[Comunismo a la tica]] ("Costa Rican-style communism"), an anti-dogmatic current within the country's leftist movement which emphasized adapting [[Marxism|Marxist]] principles to Costa Rica's specific social, political, and cultural context rather than adhering strictly to orthodox or externally directed models. It was characterized by participation in electoral politics, engagement with democratic institutions, and the pursuit of social reforms through legal and parliamentary means.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crítica del "Comunismo a la tica" |url=https://kerwa.ucr.ac.cr/bitstream/handle/10669/81275/Herrera-Marxismo-descolonizado.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423124236/http://www.kerwa.ucr.ac.cr/bitstream/handle/10669/81275/Herrera-Marxismo-descolonizado.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2021-04-23 |language=es}}</ref>

In recognition of his contributions to the labor movement and to the establishment of Costa Rica's welfare state, Mora was awarded the honorary title of ''[[Benemérito de la Patria]]'' by the [[Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica|Legislative Assembly]] in 1998.

==See also== * [[Social Guarantees]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{in lang|es}} [http://www.elespiritudel48.org/bio/bio10.htm A short biography]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mora, Manuel}} [[Category:1909 births]] [[Category:1994 deaths]] [[Category:Politicians from San José, Costa Rica]] [[Category:Costa Rican people of Spanish descent]] [[Category:People's Vanguard Party (Costa Rica) politicians]] [[Category:People of the Costa Rican Civil War]] [[Category:Costa Rican revolutionaries]] [[Category:Costa Rican atheists]]