Of the 500 most influential people in Latin America, at least 29 are based in Central America and Panama; and of these, five are in Costa Rica.According to Bloomberg Línea, which is the Spanish version of the influential American media outlet Bloomberg, Costa Rica, along with Guatemala, Panama, and Honduras, are the countries with the most influential people.
At the level of Costa Rica, several interesting figures appear on the list:
Francis Durman
He is described by Bloomberg Línea as one of the most successful, innovative, visionary, and creative entrepreneurs in Costa Rica. The mechanical engineer graduated from Texas A&M University is the CEO of Holding GrupoMontecristo, which has investments in companies with diversified activities, including: health, real estate, commercial, agro-industrial, logistics, and finance.
Ileana Rojas
He is the general manager of Intel. Under his leadership, the Costa Rica plant, one of the 15 that Intel has worldwide, is already part of the global race in generative artificial intelligence. In April, Intel announced that the Central American country will produce new semiconductors for data centers capable of enhancing AI performance in devices, reducing energy consumption, and aiming for sustainability.
In Costa Rica, Intel has more than 3,400 employees and creates jobs for over 4,700 contractors. Its high-value activities for the corporation are divided into three major centers of excellence: the Research and Development Center; processor assembly and testing; and the Global Services Center, according to Bloomberg Línea.
Nancy Hernández
She is the president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She has over 30 years of experience as a legal scholar, university professor, specialist in constitutional law, human rights, public law, and is a sitting magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica. He participated in the drafting of important bills concerning human rights and in favor of vulnerable populations such as prisoners and individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Their rulings reflect a commitment to human rights, including equal marriage, horizontal parity in favor of women’s political rights, as well as issues related to torture and police abuse of detainees.
Rolando Carvajal Bravo
He has been the CEO of FIFCO since January 2024. He has over 25 years of experience in the business world and has been an integral part of FIFCO for almost 20 years.
5 Salomón Aizen man Pinchanski is the president of Grupo Veinsa. He is a member of one of the most influential families in Central America, who, along with his brothers Samuel and Jacobo, lead two key business holdings in Costa Rica: Grupo Danissa and Grupo Veinsa.
In the first one, his brothers are distributors for the brands Nissan and Audi, and they hold the dealership for the car rental company Avis. With the second one, Salomón is a dealer of Mitsubishi, Geely, JMC, Fuso, Brilliance, Citroën, and SsangYong. In recent years, Veinsa has acquired the Sixt Rent a Car franchise and AIMI Logistics, according to Bloomberg en Línea.
