In a region that has been plagued by long and turbulent civil wars,
the peaceful and reformist outcome of Costa Rica's Civil War differs greatly from its
neighbors. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua all suffered extremely long and
painful dictatorships (The Civil War of Costa Rica). The Costa Rican revolution lasted for
five weeks with sporadic fighting in which the National Liberation Army, led by Jose Maria
("Don Pepe") Figueres Ferrer, proved victorious over the badly organized and
poorly directed Costa Rican army. In fact much of the defense of the government was
provided by armed Communist party members. However, the government was reluctant to give
them enough material support to be truly effective, and on April 19, the illegitimate
government of Teodoro Picado decided to surrender to Figueres (Costa Rica: Since
Independence & Baker). The country's forty-day Civil War in 1948 resulted in an
affirmation rather than a negation of democracy. Democracy is not only the type of
government of Costa Rica, but it also the source of tremendous pride in a country that
brags about having more teachers than policeman and not having a standing army since it
was abolished in 1948 (Costa Rica: Government and Politics).
The popular myth suggests that Figueres, a 42 year old coffee
farmer, engineer, economist and philosopher, raised a "ragtag army of university
students and intellectuals" and stepped forward to topple the government that had
refused to step aside for its democratically elected successor. In actuality, Figueres's
revolution had been planned for some time, and the 1948 election merely provided a good
excuse.
Figueres had been exiled to Mexico in 1942, the first political
outcast since the Tinoco era, after being seized halfway through a radio broadcast
denouncing Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia, who had been the president of Costa Rica from
1940 to 1944. Figueres formed an alliance with other exiles and returned to Costa Rica in
1944. He began calling for an armed uprising and arranged for foreign arms to be airlifted
to groups being trained by Guatemalan military advisors. (Baker). The elections of
1944, marred by serious charges of fraud against the Calderón government, were won by a
Calderón loyalist, Teodoro Picado. After the mid-term elections of 1946, the opposition
successfully demanded effective control of the electoral tribunal as a condition for
participation in the 1948 presidential elections. Calderón was seeking to return to the
presidency, against a unified opposition behind the candidacy of conservative newspaper
publisher Otilio Ulate (Peeler). Officially, Ulate outpaced Calderón by 10,000 votes, but
Calderón's Victory Block Party gained a greater number of seats in the legislature than
did the National Union Party. Calderón refused to acknowledge the defeat. Also, the day
after the elections, a fire of suspicious origins destroyed many of the ballots (Costa
Rica: Since Independence). When the election results showed Ulate the victor, Calderón
petitioned the legislature to nullify the results, which they agreed to do because most of
the members in the Assembly belonged to Calderón's Victory Block Party (Costa Rica: Since
Independence). Thus, the Calderónista majority in the legislative Assembly voted to annul
the election on grounds of fraud (Peeler).
When President Picado, at the urging of Calderón, declared the
election of Ulate fraudulent and refused to step down from his office, Figures saw the
perfect opportunity to launch the attack that he had been planning for so long (The Civil
War of Costa Rica). On March 12, 1948, word reached San Jose that a band of
revolutionaries led by Jose Figueres had taken over the town of San Isidro del General in
the southern part of the province (Since Independence). The brief civil war, which had
been supported by the dictatorial governments of Guatemala and Cuba, resulting from this
uprising was the bloodiest event in the 20th century Costa Rican history with more than
2,000 dead (US State Department & A Brief History of Costa Rica). The Civil War was
camouflaged as a reaction against the violation of a democratic process, but it was much
more than that. After the revolution, the negotiations that led to the establishments of
liberal democracy are best seen as beginning in the crisis of 1948. As it became clear
that Figueres had the upper hand in the civil war, several groups pushed for a settlement.
The Calderónistas wanted to retain legal status and their foothold in organized labor.
Figueres' conservative and business allies, backers of Ulate, wanted the latter President
without having to depend on the bayonets of Figueres. The Social Democrats wanted the way
cleared for creation of the new social democratic order envisioned in their program.
Figueres himself, in addition to these programmatic concerns, seemed intent on total
military victory that would leave him free to act (Peeler). The Diplomatic Corps served as
negotiators in the signing of a peace treaty, in which the president's followers
surrendered in exchange for the pardoning of their lives and the respect of their
properties (The Civil War of 1948). Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was exiled from Costa
Rica, but the government of Calderón had great importance for the Costa Rican society and
the credit he deserves for the social reform cannot be ignored (Costa Rica: People).
Calderón's enlightened policies included land reform, a guaranteed minimum wage and
progressive taxation (Brief History of Costa Rica). As President from 1940-44, he founded
the University of Costa Rica (1940), which is still a landmark in the progress of public,
higher education. Calderón also established the country's social security system, called
the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (1941), which is still functioning. He also passed
important bodies of law that guaranteed basic rights for workers and for all citizens
alike (Caught between a World War and Civil War). However, on December 10, 1948, the
exiled Calderón and his supporters invaded Costa Rica from Nicaragua. With the aid of the
Organization of American States, this overthrow attempt was put down (Since Independence).
Figueres became head of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic of
Costa Rica (Brief History of Costa Rica). The Figueres-Ulate Pact was signed on May 1,
1948 giving Figueres 18 months to govern the country without a legislature before turning
power over to Ulate (Since Independence). The pact with Ulate was not strictly necessary,
for Figueres and the Army of National Liberation had a complete monopoly of military
force. Moreover, the United States was not inclined to intervene since they were part of
the negotiations to exile Calderón. Calderón's efforts to regain control of the country
in December of 1948 only rallied further support for Figueres. In short, Figueres could
have done anything he wanted, including establishing a personal dictatorship (Peeler).
As
leader of the revolutionary junta, he consolidated Calderón's progressive social reform
program and added his own landmark reforms: he banned the press and the Communist Party,
introduced suffrage for women and full citizenship for blacks, revised the Constitution to
outlaw a standing Army (including his own), established presidential term limit and
created an independent Electoral Tribunal to oversee future elections. Figueres also
shocked the elites by nationalizing the banks and insurance companies, a move that paved
the way for state intervention in the economy (Baker). After ruling eighteen months, the
Junta fulfilled its agreements of reinstating the people's choice for a leader, Otilio
Ulate. Ulate didn't even belong to Figueres' party, but the latter respected the
democratic election by the people of Costa Rica, and willing stepped down from power
(Costa Rica: Government and Politics). That Figueres undertook and honored the pact seems
to reflect a commitment by him to the principles of procedural democracy, independent of
his commitment to the substantive program of the Social Democrats (Peeler). This episode
in Costa Rican history illustrates a pattern established by most of the Presidents of the
country: out of fifty three leaders, only three have been military men and six can be
considered dictators. Most Latin American countries can't affirm the same fate (Government
and Politics). Costa Ricans later rewarded Figueres with two terms as president, in
1953-57 (winning the first election under the new constitution {U.S. State Dept.}). and
1970-74. Figueres dominated politics for the next two decades. A socialist, he used his
popularity to build his own electoral base and founded the Partido de Liberacion National
(PLN), which became the principal advocate of state sponsored development and reform
(Baker).
The one called "Don Pepe" died in 1990 a national hero,
his death set the scene for social and economic progress that would earn Costa Rica the
reputation as a peaceful and stable island of democracy in one of the world's most
politically unstable, and often war torn regions. 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
(Brief History of Costa Rica). The product of a country that abolished its army in 1948,
President Arias has consistently work for peace in the region, convinced that negotiation,
not war, is the best means for assuring peace. The "Arias Plan" calls on the
five Central American states to work towards democracy; to assure freedom of the press and
of political organization with free and open elections. It also requires them to pledge to
limit the size of their armies. For his efforts he was awarded the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize
for his attempts to establish a peace treaty with his civil war torn neighbors. (Press
Release).
In the Spring of 1997, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate spoke at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology about demilitarization in Central America. His
speech focused on the repercussion of war and the necessity of demilitarization. He told
them how "younger individual in poor societies, very much equal in terms of
intelligence, ability and motivation, do not have access to academic institutions such as
those in the developing world." Arias continues to advocate education and vehemently
believes too many countries sacrifice education to fund armies. At the first speech in a
three part series at MIT, he cited the United States as one of the biggest offenders.
"The U.S. contributes one third of all global military expenditures," Arias
said. "There is no doubt that the people of the United States would greatly benefit
if these funds are dedicated toward improving their educational systems and promoting
scientific research instead of building an arsenal." Arias blamed poorly funded
education systems for slowing developing nations' economies. He also said that if schools
do not train students to compete in the global economy, the country's technological and
economic growth will suffer (McLaughlin). Currently, Arias has taken to the streets with
his backers, who have financed a private, nationwide referendum to support ending the ban
on second terms for presidents of Costa Rica, in hopes of getting another shot at the
presidency. He is currently prevented by the constitution from becoming president again.
According to the referendum's organizers, 130,00 Costa Ricans voted in the non binding
poll, with 88 percent favoring Arias, who retains wide popularity in Costa Rica (Nuñez).
As one of the effects of the Revolution of 1948, the
demilitarization of Costa Rica stands as one of the most striking in a region where
conflict has deep roots. Costa Rica's capacity to do violence to its citizens and to other
states must be among the lowest in the world. Its abolition of the death penalty in 1878
and prohibition of a standing armed force in 1949 were benchmarks in the effort to limit
state violence and increase expenditures on social programs. In a public ceremony rich
with symbolism, the army commander-in-chief handed the keys to his headquarters to the
minister of education who promptly converted it to a school. Costa Rica's non-military
tradition, however, does have its opponents within the nation. There is a substantial
pro-military sentiment that was used extensively by the Reagan government in its efforts
to militarize Costa Rica. Resistance to those efforts marked a low point in US-Costa Rican
relations. A disquieting recent trend is a follow up effort by the U.S. to paramilitarize
Costa Rica by enlisting it in the so-called "War on Drugs" (Common Security).
However, as of April 13, 2000, the United States has notified the Costa Rican government
that it will quit its intentions of using Costa Rican city of Liberia's airport as an
anti-drug base, a source from the Public Security Ministry disclosed. American Authorities
decided to operate from a Salvadorian airport. It was preferred to make use of EL
Salvador's Comalapa airport where the U.S. reached an agreement for the next 10 years
(Xinhua News Agency).
Louie Matrisciano
**************************************************************************************************************
Works Cited
Costa Rica: Since
Independence
AP Worldstream, 03/14/2000: Former President Wins own Referendum on Reelection; Rivals
Scoff by Eric Nuñez (Ebscohost)
Costa Rica, Section 2, A brief history provided by the U.S. Department of State.
Democracy's
Guerilla [sic] by Christie McLaughlin
A Brief History of Costa Rica Toward Common
Security in Central America
Costa Rica: History: Caught
Between a World War (1939) and a civil war (1948)
Costa Rica: People: Rafael
Angel Calderón Guardia (politician)
Costa Rica: History: The Civil
War of 1948
Costa Rica: Politics:
Our Democracy: An Overview
Early Democratization
in Latin America, Costa Rica in the Context of Chile and Uruguay by John A. Peeler
Costa Rica Handbook by
Christopher Baker
Oscar Arias Sanchez Press
Release
Xinhua News Agency, 04/13/2000: U.S. Refrains From Base Establishment in Costa Rica
(Ebscohost)
