Host Community Information
When Columbus arrived on the coast of this Central American nation in 1502, there were probably no more than 20,000 indigenous people in Costa Rica. He found several autonomous tribes, all with distinct cultures and customs.
The Indians gave Columbus gold and he returned to Europe with reports of a plentiful supply of the yellow metal. But the adventurers who arrived later to cash in confronted hostile local people, hot and swampy coastlines and rampant disease, conditions that for decades drove would-be colonists away. In 1562, Spain's administrative center in Guatemala sent Juan Vasquez de Coronado to Costa Rica as governor and Cartago was established as the capital the following year. Central America gained independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. After more than a decade of political turmoil, General Guardia seized power in 1870. Although he ruled as a military dictator, his 12 years in power were marked by progressive policies. Following General Guardia, Dr. Rafael Angel Calderon was elected president in 1940. His enlightened policies included land reform, a guaranteed minimum wage and progressive taxation. But when his United Social Christian Party refused to step down after losing the 1948 election, civil war erupted.
Jose Marˇa (Don Pepe) Figueres Ferrer, who eventually won the costly war, 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." Don Pepe died in 1990 as a national hero.
