Government

Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a very strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Executive responsibilities, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice presidents and a 20-plus member cabinet. The president and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for 4-year terms. In April 2003, the Costa Rican Constitutional Court a 1969 constitutional reform which had barred presidents from running for reelection. As a result, the law went back to the 1949 Constitution, which permits ex-presidents to run for reelection after they have been out of office for two presidential terms, or eight years. Deputies may run for reelection after sitting out one term, or four years. On January 1, 2009, the U.S.-Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) entered into force in Costa Rica. .