José María Rico Cueto is the husband of Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. Born in Loja, Granada

Loja, Granada

Loja is a town in southern Spain, situated at the western limit of the province of Granada. It is surrounded by the so-called Sierras de Loja, of which the highest peak, Sierra Gorda, stands 1,671 metres above sea-level....

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, he moved in 1960 to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 to pursue his career in international law. He still holds Canadian citizenship. From there he would frequently travel to Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, which in 1990 led him to meet Chinchilla and work with her in the same project. He is a lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and expert in penal code.

On July 11, 2010 Rico accidentally slipped and fell after watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final

2010 FIFA World Cup Final

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 11 July 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, to determine the winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 with a goal from Andrés Iniesta four minutes from the end of extra time...

 with Chinchilla at a hotel in Nandayure Canton. He suffered massive fractures in his hipbone, femur, and ribs. The next day he was airlifted to Hospital CIMA

Hospital CIMA

Hospital CIMA is a hospital in San José, Costa Rica. The hospital opened in 2000 and was voted the Best Hospital in Costa Rica.It is specificially designed for Americans in Costa Rica.-External links:*...

where he successfully underwent surgery.