Boats on the coast of
Tamarindo







A bullet filled fortress
found in San Jose from
the time of the
Civil War







Don Pepe remained in
political affairs until his
death in 1990 at the
age of 84


History and Beyond


HISTORICAL REFERENCE: Searching for a new route to the East, Christopher Columbus dropped anchor off Costa Rica, near present day Limon, in 1502. Columbus was offered gifts of gold by the Indians which gave rise to the Spanish Explorers calling this the "rich coast" (Costa Rica). Columbus returned to Europe with reports of a plentiful supply of the precious metal. But the adventurers who later arrived to cash in found only hostile Indians, swamps and disease for their trouble. Several early attempts to colonize the Atlantic coast failed for the same reasons and for almost half a century Costa Rica was passed over while colonization gathered pace in countries to the north and south. Not until 1560 did a permanent European settlement take root but the first Spanish inhabitants found neither mineral wealth nor a large indigenous population to be used as forced labor. Colonizers were therefore reduced to small scale farming, and during this colonial period, Costa Rica was a poor, neglected outpost of the Spanish empire. This in turn gave rise to a simple way of living, individualism and a spirit of equality - the basis for their rural democracy.

The wars for independence from Spain did not touch this country as Central America gained independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. The news reached Costa Rica a month after the event. The question of whether Costa Rica should join newly independent Mexico or join a new confederation of Central American states resulted in a bitter quarrel between the leaders of San Jose and their counterparts in Cartago and Heredia. A brief civil war in 1823 was won by San Jose and Costa Rica joined the confederation.

Juan Mora Fernandez was elected the country's first head of state in 1824. His progressive administration expanded public education and encouraged the cultivation of coffee with land grants for growers. This quickly led to the establishment of a new Costa Rican elite, the coffee barons, who quickly put their power to use by overthrowing the first Costa Rican president, Joseph Maria Castro. His successor, Juan Rafael Mora, is remembered as the man who mobilized a force of Costa Rican volunteers and defeated William Walker, ending the persistent North American adventurer's ambitions to turn Central America into a slave state and annex it to the United States. Costa Rica declared itself an independent republic in 1838. After more than a decade of political turmoil, General Tomas Guardia seized power in 1870. Though he ruled as a military dictator, his 12 years in power were marked by progressive policies like free and compulsory primary education, restraining the excesses of the military and taxing coffee earnings to finance public works. It was Guardia who contracted Minor Keith to build the Atlantic railroad from San Jose to the Caribbean. The post-Guardia years witnessed the fitful transition to full democracy.

The next important era began with the election of Dr. Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia in 1940. His enlightened policies included land reform, a guaranteed minimum wage and progressive taxation. But when Calderon's United Social Christian Party refused to step down after losing the 1948 election, civil war erupted. The anti-Calderon forces were led by Jose Mar¡a (Don Pepe) Figueres Ferrer who had been exiled to Mexico in 1942. Supported by the governments of Guatemala and Cuba, he won the war which lasted 40 days and cost 2,000 lives.

Figueres became head of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic of Costa Rica. He consolidated the reforms introduced by Calderon and introduced many of his own: he banned the Communist Party, gave women the vote and granted full citizenship to blacks, abolished the armed forces, established a term limit for presidents and nationalized the banks and insurance companies. He also founded the Partido de Liberacion Nacional. The PLN won the presidential election behind Don Pepe's son, President Jose Maria Figueres Olsen. He was succeeded by Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría of the PUSC (the Social Christian Unity party) in 1998. The current President is Abel Pacheco, elected in May of 2002.

Don Pepe died in 1990 a national hero, his deeds having set the scene for the social and economic progress that would earn Costa Rica the reputation as a peaceful and stable country of democracy in one of the world's most politically unstable, and often war-torn regions. This small, peaceful nation has no standing army. The military was abolished in 1948, and this proved attractive to Quakers, who migrated to this country in the 1950s and founded Monteverde. The Quakers established a cheese ranch, and profits help maintain the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Peace is one of Costa Rica's highest values. When civil war broke out in neighboring Nicaragua, Costa Rica was drawn reluctantly into the conflict, its northern zone being used as a base first for Sandinista and later for "contra" forces. In 1986, a young lawyer called Oscar Arias Sanchez was elected president on the platform of peace. Arias' tireless efforts to promote peace in the region were rewarded when the five Central American presidents signed his peace plan in Guatemala City in 1987, an achievement that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

DID YOU KNOW?
Christopher Columbus discovered Costa Rica in 1502.  Attracted by the beauty of the Atlantic coast, and believing it to also be abundant in gold, they proclaimed the newly discovered land “Costa Rica” or “Rich Coast.”