History of Costarica

Costa Rica has been strongly influenced by the Spanish conquest. The pre Columbian cultures put up little and insufficient resistance to the Spanish. Few archaeological monuments remain, so our knowledge of Costa Rica's pre Columbian history if scanty. Despite this, a visit to see artifacts at San Jose's Musco de Jade or Museo del Oro Precolombino is worthwhile.

The Spanish Conquest

The first European arrival was Christopher Columbus, who landed near present day Puerto Limon on September 18, 1502, on his fourth (and last) voyage to the Americas. During his 17 day stay, he noted that some of the natives wore gold decorations. Because of this, the area was dubbed costa rica (the rich coast) by the Europeans, who imagined that there must be a rich empire lying farther inland.

The Spanish king, Ferdinand, appointed Diego de Nicuesa as governor of the region, and sent him to colonize it in 1506. The colonizers were hampered by the jungle, by tropical diseases and by small bands of indigenous peoples who used guerrilla tactics to fight off the invaders. About half the colonizers died and the rest returned home, unsuccessful.

Further expeditions followed, but they were unable to form a permanent colony, and many Spaniards died of hunger and disease. Meanwhile, the indigenous population was decimated by European diseases to which the natives had no resistance. In 1562, Juan Vasquez de Coronado arrived as governor and founded a colony in the central highlands. Cartago was founded in 1563, and the healthy climate and fertile volcanic soil enabled the colony to survive.

For the next 150 years the colony remained a forgotten backwater, isolated from the coast and the major trading routes and surviving only by dint of hard work and the generosity and friendliness that were to become the hallmarks of the Costa Rican character.

Eventually, in the early I 8th century, the colony began to spread and change. Settlements were established throughout the fertile central highlands, including San Jose in 1737 and Alajuela in 1782. Much of Cartago was destroyed in an eruption of Irazu in 1723, but the survivors rebuilt the town. This expansion reflected slow growth from within Costa Rica, but the colony remained one of the poorest in the Spanish Empire.

Independence

Central America became independent from Spain on September 15, 1821. Costa Rica was briefly a part of Iturbide's Mexican Empire, and then it became a state within the United Provinces of Central America. The first elected head of state, from 1824 to 1833, was Juan Mora Fernandez.

Coffee was introduced from Cuba in 1808, and it was first exported during Juan Mora's term in office. The rest of the 19th century saw a steady increase in coffee exports, which improved Costa Rica's economy. Some of the coffee growers became rich and a class structure began to emerge. In 1849, a coffee grower, Juan Rafael Mora, became president and govemed for 10 years.

Mora's presidency is remembered both for economic and cultural growth, and for a somewhat bizarre military incident that has earned a place in every Costa Rican child's history books. In June 1855, the American filibuster, William Walker, arrived in Nicaragua to conquer Central America, convert it into slaving territory and then use slaves to build a Nicaraguan canal to join the Atlantic and Pacific. Walker defeated the Nicaraguans and marched south.

Costa Rica had no army, so Mora organized 9000 civilians to gather what arms they could, and in February 1856, they marched north. In a short but determined battle at Santa Rosa, the Costa Ricans defeated Walker, who retreated to Rivas in Nicaragua, followed by the victorious Costa Ricans. Walker made a stand in a wood fort, and Juan Santamaria, a drummer boy from Alajuela, volunteered to torch the building, thus forcing Walker to flee. Santamaria was killed in this action, and he is now remembered as one of Costa Rica's favorite national heroes.

Despite his defeat, Walker returned to Central America several more times, unsuccessfully, before finally being captured and shot in Honduras in 1860. In the meantime, Mora lost favor in his country (he and his army were thought to have brought back cholera, which caused a massive epidemic in Costa Rica) and was deposed in 1859. In 1860 he led a coup against the government. The coup failed, and Mora was executed.

Democracy

The next three decades were characterized by power struggles among members of the coffee growing elite. In 1889, the first democratic elections were held, although women and blacks were not allowed to vote. Democracy has been a hallmark of Costa Rican politics since then, with few lapses. One was between 1917 and 1919 when the Minister of War, Frederica Tinoco, overthrew the democratically elected president and formed a dictatorship. After opposition from the rest of Costa Rica and the US government, the dictatorship was ended and Tinoco was exiled.

In 1940, Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia became president. His presidency was marked by reforms supported by the poor but criticized by the rich. These included a recognition of workers' rights to organization, the introduction of minimum wages and a social security system. To further widen his power base, Calderon allied, himself, strangely, with both the Catholic Church and the communist party to form the United Christian Socialist Party. This further alienated him from conservatives, intellectuals and the upper classes.

Calderon was succeeded in 1944 by Teodoro Picado, a United Christian Socialist who was a supporter of Calderon's policies, but the conservative opposition claimed the elections were a fraud. In 1948, Calderon again ran for the presidency, this time against Otilio Ulate. The election was won by Ulate but Calderon claimed fraud because some of the ballots had been destroyed. Picado's government did not recognize Ulate's victory, and the tense situation escalated into civil war.

Calderon and Picado were opposed by Jose (Pepe) Figueres Ferrer. After several weeks of civil warfare, over 2000 people had been killed, and' Figueres emerged victorious. He took over an interim government, and in 1949 he handed over the presidency to Otilio Ulate of the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN; National Liberation Party). The year marked the formation of the Costa Rican constitution, which is still in effect. Women and blacks received the vote, the army was abolished, presidents were not allowed to run for successive terms and a neutral electoral tribunal was established to guarantee free and fair elections.

Although there are over a dozen political parties, since 1949 the PLN has dominated, usually winning elections every other four years. Figueres continued to be popular and was returned to two more terms of office (in 1954 and 1970). Another famous PLN president was Oscar Arias, who governed from 1986 to 1990. For his work in attempting to spread peace through Central America, Arias received the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Christian Socialists have continued to be the favored party of the poor and working classes, and Calderon's son, Rafael Angel Calderon Fournier, has played a large role in that party, running for president three times. After two losses, he was finally elected president, succeeding Oscar Arias in 1990.

The 1994 presidential elections were narrowly won by PLN candidate Jose Maria Figueres (son of Don Pepe Figueres), who defeated Miguel Angel Rodriguez of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC; Social Christian Unity Party). He became the 5 1 st president and, at 39, was Costa Rica's youngest president ever. Figueres had campaigned on a populist platform, promising improved healthcare and education, but his presidency has thus far proved unpopular. It has been marked by price hikes, tax increases and strikes.

A May 1996 poll showed that 50.2% of Costa Ricans felt that the president had been doing a bad or very bad job, while only 12.7% rated his work as good or very good. The government's economic policies were especially unpopular, with 76% of people polled saying the economy was not well run and only 10% approving economic policies.