Costa Rican Civil War

The Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history. It lasted for 44 days (from 12 March to 24 April 1948), during which approximately 2,000 people are believed to have died. The conflict was precipitated by the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the Presidential election held in February, alleging that the triumph of opposition candidate Otilio Ulate had been achieved by fraud. This caused a rebel army under commander Jose Figueres to rise up against the government of President Teodoro Picado, which it quickly defeated. After the war, Figueres ruled for a year and a half as head of a provisional government Junta which abolished the military and oversaw the election of a Constitutional Assembly in December, which subsequently produced the new 1949 constitution. The junta then stepped down and handed power to Ulate. Costa Rica has not experienced any significant political violence since.

Beginning of civil War

The annulment of the election results in 1948 and the attack on Dr. Valverde's home on the same day appeared to provide for Figueres the proof that he needed to show that the government had no intention of ceding to the will of the people. His hatred for Calderón, combined with his idealism, fueled his desire for war. On March 11, Figueres made the call that brought in the arms and military leaders Figueres needed for a successful campaign. On March 12, his National Liberation Army exchanged fire with government forces, and the war began.

Background

In the 1940s, the Costa Rican political scene came to be dominated by Rafael Angel Calderon, a medical doctor who served as President of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944. The Constitution forbade consecutive reelection, so Calderón's National Republican Party had fielded as its candidate for the 1944 elections law professor Teodoro Picado, who was perceived as a weak figure controlled by Calderón.
The Picado administration resorted several times to the use of military force in order to keep the peace, and pro-Calderón elements within the military institution would often become involved in street violence, which helped to sully the image of the military in the minds of the people. The Costa Rican communist movement, organized in the Popular Vanguard Party led by congressman Manuel Mora, was allied to Picado's government and contributed to the unrest by deploying its militia against the opposition. As the violence grew, supporters of the opposition began to carry guns, and the police began to threaten the use of firearms rather than just beating demonstrators.
Disgust with the government's violent reprisals against the opposition led to the Huelga de Brazos Caídos, a strike that stalled commerce in Costa Rica for seven days. Pro-Calderón and communist demonstrators began to sack those businesses that participated in the strike, and Picado was forced to respond to the strike with force by intimidating merchants and professionals and threatening workers with dismissal and military service. By the end of the strike, police and military forces patrolled the streets, and San José appeared as if under a state of siege.
Calderón himself was the ruling party's candidate for the election of 1948 and there were widespread fears that the government would intervene to ensure his triumph against his main opponent, journalist Otilio Ulate. To assuage these fears, Picado's government for the first time in Costa Rican history placed the election under the control of an independent Electoral Tribunal.

Costa Rican civil war

Date	12 March – 24 April 1948 (1 month, 1 week and 5 days)
Location	Costa Rica
Result	National Liberation Army victory.

Belligerents
National liberation Army	Government of Costa Rica

Commanders and leaders
Jose Figueres	Teodoro Picado Michalski

Casualties and losses

2,000 dead