Research About Costa Rica Part II

Click here to read the first post: Research About Costa Rica Part I

Costa Rica is very distinct in comparison to other countries in Central America. Here's some bullet points about the country:

* Costa Rica has no standing army, only a civilian police force.
* Costa Rica has the highest literacy rate in Latin America.
* It has a large middle class.
* Averages 80% voter turnout.
* Protects more of it's land under biological reserves and national parks than other countries in the area.
* Has active volcanoes, rainforests, and borders both the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.
* Main sources of revenue are Coffee, Bananas, and Tourism.
* Has a very high percentage of white-skinned persons, but many descendants of Africans and Jamaicans live on the Atlantic Coast and speak a mixture of English, Spanish and other sources called Lí­mon Creole.

Here's a little about it's history. Christopher Columbus discovered Costa Rica in 1502. It was named Costa Rica because the Spaniards expected gold and riches that were never realized. Pre-Columbian times showed some advancement, such as aqueducts, stone streets and gold artifacts, but not to the extent shown in other parts of Latin America. As with many Latin American countries, much of the indigenous population was decimated, but there is still a remnant living in the country. Because Costa Rica did not have a large indigenous population and limited mineral wealth, the Spanish Crown did not pay much attention to it. Therefore it was left alone and allowed to develop into an agricultural economy with limited autonomy.

In September 15, 1821 Costa Rica was granted independence from Spain during the same time as Guatemala. After some political wrangling by Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua, Costa Rica finally became its own country, and the borders were established for the most part around 1824. Soon after that, the coffee industry started developing.

In June of 1855, an American named William Walker tried to invade Central America in a quest to set up slave states. The struggle to defeat Walker was the birth of one of the national heroes of Costa Rica, Juan Santamarí­a, a young drummer boy, who was killed in action as he set flame to the fort where Walker was making his stand. After the fort burned and Walker had to flee, he was eventually defeated.

After the war with Walker, Costa Rica developed under the influence of the cafetaleros,(coffee barons), and the power of the United Fruit Company led by Minor Keith. Even with the influence of those two powers, Costa Rica still had compulsory elementary education in some parts of the country and free elections,(although women and people of African descent were not allowed to vote).

The next real steps toward modern democracy began in the 1940's. It started in 1940 when Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was elected president. He introduced many social reforms, including minimum wages and an eight hour day for workers. Calderón made an alliance with the Communist Party and the Catholic church to accomplish his goals. Calderón was defeated in 1944 and ran again in 1948 against Otilio Ulate. When Calderón lost to Ulate, he refused to accept defeat, and the situation escalated into a civil war. José Figueres Ferrer,(Don Pepe) led the forces against Calderón, who was finally defeated. Don Pepe led the country for two years and then turned the presidency over to Ulate in 1949. After Ulate took power, we see the political foundation of modern Costa Rica. The military was abolished, woman and people of color were given the vote, and presidents were forbidden to run for successive terms.

Since then the country has developed into a model of stability compared to it's neighbors. Because of its pacifist traditions and stable government, Ticos,(Costa Ricans) have long been proud of their reputation as "la Suiza de América Central"(The Switzerland of Central America).

They have a lot to be proud of. When Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala were all struggling with internal conflicts, the president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sánchez helped to negotiate peace accords with his neighbors to help bring stability to the region. Arias later received the Nobel Peace Prize for this work.

Costa Rica is very different from the U.S. in many ways, and yet is considered to be one of the most westernized countries in Latin America. A good example of the differences is an article I read in AM Costa Rica recently. While the U.S. allows civilians to own semi-automatic military rifles, such as the AR-15, Costa Rica does not allow it's police to even own such weapons. Recently, the new government found some of these same rifles and melted them down to scrap metal. Costa Rica does allow people to own small arms, such as handguns and shotguns under special license, but it does not allow its citizens to own any "weapons of war". It's these sort of differences that make me very interested to learn more about this unique country, and even more excited about my trip. While I may not agree with everything I have learned about Costa Rica, I know that they certainly are doing enough right that they have some things they could teach the rest of the world, including the United States.

In Part III, I will talk about what my research has showed me about social customs in Costa Rica. Below are links to the books where I got most of my information about history for this entry.
Culture and Customs of Costa Rica
Lonely Planet Costa Rica

Juanito

Next Costa Rica Entry: Research About Costa Rica-Part III