Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [15]
Meanwhile, an independent Costa Rica was taking shape under Juan Mora Fernández, first head of state (1824–33). He tended toward nation-building, and organized new towns, built roads, published a newspaper and coined a currency. His wife even partook in the effort by designing the country’s flag.
Life returned to normal, unlike in the rest of the region where post-independence civil wars raged on. In 1824, the Nicoya-Guanacaste region seceded from Nicaragua and joined its more easygoing southern neighbor, defining the territorial borders. In 1852, Costa Rica received its first diplomatic emissaries from the USA and Great Britain.
Return to beginning of chapter
COFFEE RICA
In the 19th century, the riches that Costa Rica had long promised were uncovered when it was realized that the soil and climate of the Central Valley highlands were ideal for coffee cultivation. Costa Rica led Central America in introducing the caffeinated bean, which transformed the impoverished country into the wealthiest in the region.
WILLIAM WALKER
As the Spanish empire receded, another arose. In the 19th century the USA was in an expansive mood and Spanish America looked increasingly vulnerable.
In 1853, a soldier of fortune named William Walker landed in the Mexican territory of Baja California with 45 men intending to privately conquer Mexico and Central America, establish slavery and mandate white control of the region. Walker succeeded in capturing La Paz, the capital of the territory, and declared himself the president of the new ‘Republic of Lower California.’
However, less than three months after occupying the region, he was forced to retreat back to the other California due to lack of supplies and an unexpectedly strong Mexican resistance. Although he was later put on trial for conducting an illegal war, his legendary campaign won him popularity among expansionists in the conservative west and south of the USA, which prompted the jury to acquit him in only eight minutes.
In 1856 Walker was back to his old tricks again, this time capitalizing on the civil war that was raging in Nicaragua. After raising a small army, he managed to sack the city of La Virgen and cripple the Nicaraguan national army. One month later, he conquered the capital of Granada and took control of the country through puppet president Patricio Rivas. Soon after, US President Franklin Pierce fully recognized Walker’s regime as the legitimate government of Nicaragua.
Before long, Walker was marching on Costa Rica, though Costa Rican President Juan Rafael Mora Porras guessed Walker’s intentions and managed to recruit a volunteer army of 9000 civilians. In a brilliant display of military prowess, a ragtag group of fighters surrounded Walker’s army as they lay waiting in an old hacienda (estate) in present-day Parque Nacional Santa Rosa. The battle was over in just 14 minutes and Walker was forever expelled from Costa Rican soil.
During the fighting, a drummer boy from Alajuela, Juan Santamaría, was killed while daringly setting fire to Walker’s defenses. The battle became national legend and Santamaría was exalted as a Costa Rican patriot and immortalized in statues (and in an airport) throughout the country.
After returning to Nicaragua, Walker declared himself president of the country. However, Walker’s popularity was waning on all sides and soon he found himself being repatriated to the USA. Of course, Walker’s messianic ambitions were far from realized, and after a brief hiatus he set out once again for Central America.
On his final (and ultimately fatal) expedition, Walker tried to invade Honduras, which quickly perturbed the British, who saw him as a threat to their affairs in British Honduras (present-day Belize) and the Mosquito Coast (present-day Nicaragua). After being captured by the British Royal Navy, Walker was quickly handed over to the Honduran authorities, who chose death by firing squad as a fitting punishment for trying to take over their country.
When an