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The Revolution
of 1948:
Travel
to Costa Rica
Of the relatively little that might
be known about Costa Rica beyond its borders is the
fact that this tiny Central American nation is unique
in having a functioning democratic system and no army.
However, these conditions have only existed since 1949.
It is true that in Costa Rica the democratic
tradition dates back to 1889, although direct voting
for presidential candidates did not go into effect until
1910 and women gained the right to vote as late as 1953.
Nonetheless, from 1821 to 1948, electoral fraud and
coups d'état were a regular part of the local
political reality -- witness to the fact is that in
the 93 years between 1821 and 1914 there were a total
of 92 political conflicts characterized by violence,
albeit brief and limited in scope.
Many factors combined to create the
political situation that resulted in the revolution,
or civil war, of 1948.
Costa Rica's century-long economic dependence
on a single export crop, coffee (bananas have never
had the same direct influence on the national economy),
inevitably tied the economy to the vagaries of an international
market. Coffee prices had already been on a decline
for several years when the worldwide depression hit
in 1930. This resulted in a drastic reduction of both
coffee and banana exports along with a severe drop in
imported goods. Because most government revenue was
then generated by taxes on imports, the depression also
decidedly diminished state funds.
The economic conditions produced a serious
social crisis marked by unemployment, food scarcities,
lowered wages for government employees, and a general
decline in the standard of living to which Costa Ricans
had been accustomed. The growing proletariat had already
been making increasingly vehement demands for better
working and living conditions prior to the onset of
the depression, and thus the stage was set for the inception
of the Costa Rican Communist Party in 1931. Several
strikes by urban workers and by thousands of banana
plantation workers in the Atlantic lowlands in 1934
demonstrated the power of this new political force and
sent a clear signal to the traditional ruling class
elite.
The government was obliged to take a
more active role in social and economic problems. Banking
had traditionally been controlled by foreign capitalists
and the local coffee oligarchy, but in 1936, the state
intervened in this area with the creation of the National
Bank of Costa Rica and the General Superintendent of
Banks, designed to exercise certain controls over the
private banks. Previously, in 1933, a federal institute
had been created to establish prices paid for coffee
by the coffee mills and to regulate relations between
the independent growers and the mills.
The end of a seventy-year period of
governmental liberalism and laissez-faire was
being heralded. At the same time, a generational change
was taking place in the national political arena and,
in 1940, Dr. Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was
elected president with an overwhelming 85% of the vote.
His ambitious platform, however, was limited by the
federal fiscal deficit and a new period of difficult
international economic times brought on by World War
II.
Nevertheless, during his four years
in office the University of Costa Rica was founded (1940),
the Seguro Social -- a national health care program
-- was created (1941), the "Social Guarantees" were
amended to the Constitution (1942), and the Labor Code
was enacted (1943). History will perhaps best remember
Dr. Calderón for having promoted the Social Guarantees
which include the right to work, minimum wage, an 8-hour
work day, a 48-hour work week, paid vacations, the right
to unionize and to strike, social security, and the
formation of the Labor Courts to litigate disputes between
workers and employers.
Despite the sweeping popularity that
brought him into office, by the second year of his presidency
Calderón was beset by critics from all sides.
Those wielding economic power were not enamored of many
of the social reforms, the communists were not in favor
of legislation that instituted religion classes in public
schools, and nearly everyone opposed the government's
handling of the country's economic problems. To make
matters worse, accusations of corruption were frequent.
Among the many critics was a politically
unknown farmer/businessman, José Figueres Ferrer,
who, during a radio program on July 8, 1942, denounced
the government's economic policies and claimed that
it had given in to the Communist Party. Incensed by
his oratory, the government had him arrested and deported
to Mexico. However, that was not to be the end of Mr.
Figueres.
It was not until a year later that the
government of Calderón Guardia actually did form
a pact with the Communist Party in hopes of assuring
a victory in the 1944 Presidential elections. Both groups
had a mutual interest in preserving the social reforms
that had recently become law, and it is thought that
perhaps Calderón, being aware of the decline
in his popularity, imagined the communists could be
useful with their capacity at organizing and mobilizing
masses of people.
The election campaign of 1944 was marred
by numerous violent confrontations between followers
of the Calderón/communist coalition, known as
"The Victory Block," and those of the León Cortés
Democratic Party. Cortés had been president from
1936 - 1940 and was running for reelection against Teodoro
Picado, the man picked by Calderón to succeed
him. By an ample margin, Picado was declared the winner,
although the opposition party denounced that the results
were tampered.
Attempting to placate the opposition,
Picado instituted several reforms aimed at improving
public finance and, most importantly, promoted the creation
of the Electoral Code which included the formation of
the Electoral Tribune, supposedly a politically neutral
organism charged with safeguarding election results
and eliminating fraud.
Any advance that might have been gained
towards smoothing over differences with the opposition
was nullified, however, by the changes made to the tax
laws in December of 1946. Both small agricultural and
industrial producers as well as those with large capital
were equally vocal in their discontent over having to
pay higher taxes, especially the agricultural exporting
class that was long accustomed under the liberal regimes
to not having their activities taxed.
Meanwhile, in 1944, José Figueres
had returned from exile committed to forming the "Second
Republic" and a year later created the Social Democratic
Party. Six months later, this party entered into an
alliance with the León Cortés Democratic
Party and the National Union Party, led by Otilio Ulate,
who was later elected as the party nominee for the presidential
election of 1948. Their platform centered on free elections
and anticommunism. The Victory Block's candidate was
Dr. Calderón Guardia who aspired to a second
term in office.
The months leading up to the elections
on February 8, 1948 were filled with tension and frequent
acts of violence perpetrated by members of both major
political forces. The level of conflict escalated from
that of the elections four years earlier with the inclusion
of terrorist attacks on newspaper companies, radio stations,
and even important political figures, including Calderón
himself. And, of course, both sides alleged that the
other party intended to rig the election results.
Officially, Otilio Ulate outpaced Calderón
by 10,000 votes, but the Victory Block garnered a greater
number of seats in the legislature than did the National
Union Party. Calderón Guardia refused to acknowledge
the defeat. Also, the day after the elections, a fire
of suspicious origin destroyed many of the ballots.
It seems that the Electoral Tribune was not very successful
in its first trial by fire.
By majority, the members of the Electoral
Tribune declared Ulate to be the President-elect, pending
confirmation by the Legislative Assembly. Calderón
petitioned the legislature to nullify the results, which
they did (the majority of representatives were members
of the Victory Block party), although they ruled that
the legislative position results were valid.
That was the spark that ignited the
fuse which had been set years ago. On March 12, 1948,
word reached San José that a band of revolutionaries
led by José Figueres had taken over the town
of San Isidro del General in the southern part of the
province.
The revolution lasted for five weeks
with sporadic fighting in which Figueres' troops, self-proclaimed
as the National Liberation Army, 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
government of Teodoro Picado opted to surrender to Figueres.
The "Second Republic": The Figueres-Ulate
Pact was signed on May 1, 1948 giving Figueres 18 months
to govern the country without a legislature before turning
over power to Ulate. Amazingly, in the context of Latin
American politics, this pact was fulfilled on November
8, 1949.
During those intervening 18 months,
the Government Council presided by Figueres instituted
many profound changes. Among these were the nationalization
of the banking system, the establishment of a 10% capital
goods tax, the prohibition of the Communist Party, the
abolishment of the country's armed forces, and the creation
of the Costa Rican Electric Institute (I.C.E.). Not
all of these measures were met with pleasure by all
sectors of the population.
Despite its reformist intentions and
promises made at the end of the revolution, the temporary
government was characterized by a very authoritarian
style and even embarked on a veritable witch hunt against
members of the Calderón and Picado governments.
On December 10, 1948, the exiled Dr. Calderón
and his supporters invaded Costa Rica from Nicaragua.
With the aid of the Organization of American States,
this overthrow attempt was squelched.
The Government Council also drew up
a proposed new Constitution to be ratified by the National
Constitutional Assembly, elected in January of 1949
for just this purpose. This assembly rejected the Council's
draft and set about writing its own version based on
the nation's previous Constitution of 1871. The new
Constitution of Costa Rica, which maintained the Social
Guarantees established under the presidency of Dr. Calderón
Guardia, was ratified on November 7, 1949.
As evidenced during the mere year and
a half that José Figueres held power over the
decision-making process of the country, the government
would become a much more active player in the nation's
economic and social affairs. The period from 1950-80
can be typified by unprecedented growth of the public
sector, the modernization and diversification of the
country's economy, and the accumulation of a tremendous
national debt.
With the expansion of government services
and the proliferation of state institutions, the number
of public employees rose from slightly more than 15,000
in 1949 to nearly 130,000 by the year 1979. On the positive
side, Costa Rica now possesses better health and education
systems and more infrastructure, particularly roads
and electrification, than most other Latin American
nations. The cost of this has been the creation of an
unwieldy and often ineffective bureaucracy, along with
the dubious distinction of having the world's second
largest per capita debt in 1980.
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