Peaceful Costa Rica, The First Battleground: The United States and the Costa Rican Revolution of 1948

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Longley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Armed Struggle ◽  
The Government

In February 1948 a spirited presidential race sparked a political powderkeg in normally tranquil Costa Rica. The opposition candidate, Otilio Ulate, unexpectedly defeated former president Rafael Angel Calderón. Calderón's National Republican Party, the Communist Partido Vanguardia Popular (Vanguard), along with incumbent President Teodoro Picado immediately overturned the results. The opposition responded by launching an armed struggle to install Ulate in power. Led by José Figueres, the rebels defeated the government army and its auxiliaries composed primarily of calderonista and vanguardista militiamen. In late April Figueres victoriously entered San José and established a revolutionary junta that ruled the country for eighteen months. At the end of this period, he stepped down and allowed Ulate to serve his full four-year term.

Costa Rica could become key US ally in region

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
The United States ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government

Subject Costa Rica-US relations. Significance Between March 13-17, President Luis Guillermo Solis undertook a five-day visit to Washington and New York, in an effort to bolster Costa Rica’s position as a US ally in Latin America. While San Jose benefits greatly from its relationship with the United States, however, closeness to the administration of US President Donald Trump will bring with it added risks, both domestically and in terms of its international relations. Impacts Trump’s protectionist stance may dissuade US foreign direct investment in Costa Rica, at least temporarily. Given Costa Rica’s large Nicaraguan population, strained relations between San Jose and Managua could raise domestic social tensions. Association with Trump will give opposition parties ammunition against the government during 2018 election campaigning.

scholarly journals When Interbranch Norms Break Down: Of Arms-for-Hostages, "Orderly Shutdowns, "Presidential Impeachments, and Judicial Coups

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Shane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Government ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
National System ◽  
Effective Operation ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Government

The orderly and effective operation of our national system of government was intended to depend to an exceptional degree upon certain norms of cooperation among its competing branches. The strength of those norms is essential to securing the primary political asset that our government design was intended to help realize: an especially robust form of democratic legitimacy. From this standpoint, it is constitutionally worrisome that norms critical to inter-branch cooperation are coming under heedless assault. To illustrate the problem, this article revisits four critical episodes that have involved destabilizing and antidemocratic initiatives, each undertaken by a branch of the national government while in the control of the current, very conservative generation of Republican party leadership: the Iran-Contra affair, the government shutdown of 1995, the impeachment of President Clinton, and the Senate stonewalling of President Clinton's judicial nominations. The repeated willingness of the Republican Party's most conservative elements to engage in such initiatives is not rooted in political conservatism per se. It reflects rather the narrowing social and ideological base of the Republican Party, and is consistent with a contempt for democratic pluralism that characterizes the constitutional outlook of leading Republican legal theorists. Unless matters are improved, the United States may otherwise be headed towards a new political equilibrium that does considerable violence to America's modern practice of democratic legitimacy.

A Cross-Country Comparison of Virtual Discussion Board Use in United States and Costa Rican Education Settings

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Hodge ◽  
Terrill F. Saxon ◽  
Jason Trumble
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
The United States ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Cross Country

The purpose of the current study was to compare the use of virtual discussion boards in various educational settings in the United States and Costa Rica. Participants included professors of education, in-service and pre-service teachers in the United States and Costa Rica where a survey was used that included demographic, knowledge, attitude, and behavioral questions regarding the use of virtual discussion boards. Results indicated that sixty-two percent of the participants used discussion boards in an educational setting. Instructors reported creating discussion board prompts that were constructivist in nature, and responses were frequently assessed for reflection, application, or collaboration. Findings show implications for educators in Costa Rica the United States due to the extensive rural landscape that perpetuates a need for alternative forms of communication and distance learning as well as to provide a comparison to how this technology is used in United States educational settings.

Drug haul highlights Costa Rica’s security challenges

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Government ◽  
New Infrastructure

Subject Costa Rica drugs. Significance Costa Rican police on February 15 seized more than five tonnes of cocaine in a single operation -- the country’s largest-ever drugs seizure. The haul underlines the extent to which transnational drug-trafficking organisations have infiltrated the country, compounding concerns about related impacts on crime. The government of President Carlos Alvarado is currently implementing a new security strategy, but it is unclear how effective this will be in combating drug gangs. Impacts Costa Rica will seek extra security funding from partners such as the United States. Violence in neighbouring Nicaragua will exacerbate the pressures facing security forces along the border. The Limon region will be a bellwether for security trends as new infrastructure opens up the region.

The Costa Rican Initiative in Central America

1987 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Central America ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Illegal Activity ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Government

COSTA RICA SHAKES TWO HUNDRED MILES OF underpopulated border with Nicaragua. It has only the most limited capacity to regulate the flow of either weapons into, or refugees out of, the adjacent territory. The absence of a professional army is noteworthy (although it should not be overstated — there are some well armed, but unprofessionally led, defence forces, and the police are quite militarized). What requires emphasis is less the scarcity of soldiers than the abundance of lawyers, and the power of their profession. Last year, for example, tension built up between Managua and San José, because it was revealed that an airstrip in northern Costa Rica had been used to resupply the 'contras' in violation of Costa Rica's proclaimed policy of neutrality. The Sandinistas interpreted this as yet another proof of Costa Rican duplicity and of San José's subordination to the will of the paymasters in Washington. Nicaraguans (of all ideological persuasions) find it almost impossible to accept the Costa Rican version of this episode, which points out that the government has no power to interfere with the use of private property unless a prima facie case exists of illegal activity.

Three new species of Tricholoma from Costa Rica

Phytotaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 392 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLARK L. OVREBO ◽  
KAREN W. HUGHES ◽  
ROY E. HALLING
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Species ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
The United States ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
Its Sequences ◽  
The Third ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Three New Species

Three new species of Tricholoma are described from Costa Rican montane forests with additional collections cited from the United States. The new species are Tricholoma felschii sp. nov., Tricholoma costaricense sp. nov. and Tricholoma atratum sp. nov. A discussion of Tricholoma luteomaculosum is also included. These taxa share morphological features of strong farinaceous odor and taste, pseudoparenchymatous pileal subcutis, and rugulose pileus at some stage of development. In addition, cheilocystidia occur in two of the taxa but not the third. Phylogenies are presented based on ITS sequences.

The Power and Pitfalls of Patronage: Chinese Immigrants in Costa Rica during the Era of Exclusion, 1897–1943

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-235
Author(s):  
Benjamín N. Narváez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Chinese Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Chinese Diaspora ◽  
Wrong Side

A small number of Chinese migrated to Costa Rica between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. There they experienced Sinophobia, including an immigration ban from 1897–1943. Nevertheless, the community persisted. The Chinese responded to this hostility in part by seeking the support of powerful patrons, including Costa Rican politicians and American diplomats. These ties helped with business concerns, immigration issues, and legal troubles, and could alleviate harassment. However, the Chinese did not always get the help they desired. Moreover, these relationships created their own challenges, including placing the Chinese on the wrong side of Costa Rican politics and forcing them to acquiesce to the interests of the United States. Close examination of these relationships and Costa Rican Sinophobia ultimately challenges Costa Rica’s myth of exceptionalism (i.e., racial homogeneity and egalitarianism), sheds light on the construction of this myth, and deepens our larger understanding of the Chinese diaspora in the Americas.

scholarly journals When Inter-branch Norms Break Down: Of Arms-for-Hostages, 'Orderly Shutdowns,' Presidential Impeachments, and Judicial 'Coups'

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Shane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Government ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
National System ◽  
Effective Operation ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Government

The orderly and effective operation of our national system of government was intended to depend to an exceptional degree upon certain norms of cooperation among its competing branches. The strength of those norms is essential to securing the primary political asset that our government design was intended to help realize: an especially robust form of democratic legitimacy. From this standpoint, it is constitutionally worrisome that norms critical to inter-branch cooperation are coming under heedless assault. To illustrate the problem, this article revisits four critical episodes that have involved destabilizing and antidemocratic initiatives, each undertaken by a branch of the national government while in the control of the current, very conservative generation of Republican party leadership: the Iran-Contra affair, the government shutdown of 1995, the impeachment of President Clinton, and the Senate stonewalling of President Clinton's judicial nominations. The repeated willingness of the Republican Party's most conservative elements to engage in such initiatives is not rooted in political conservatism per-se. It reflects rather the narrowing social and ideological base of the Republican Party, and is consistent with a contempt for democratic pluralism that characterizes the constitutional outlook of leading Republican legal theorists. Unless matters are improved, the United States may otherwise be headed towards a new political equilibrium that does considerable violence to America's modern practice of democratic legitimacy.

Verán ustedes las chozas más humildes. El discurso de pobreza en la diplomacia pública cardenista dirigida a Estados Unidos

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-281
Author(s):  
Sylvia Dümmer Scheel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Government ◽  
Lazaro Cardenas ◽  
The New Deal

El artículo analiza la diplomacia pública del gobierno de Lázaro Cárdenas centrándose en su opción por publicitar la pobreza nacional en el extranjero, especialmente en Estados Unidos. Se plantea que se trató de una estrategia inédita, que accedió a poner en riesgo el “prestigio nacional” con el fin de justificar ante la opinión pública estadounidense la necesidad de implementar las reformas contenidas en el Plan Sexenal. Aprovechando la inusual empatía hacia los pobres en tiempos del New Deal, se construyó una imagen específica de pobreza que fuera higiénica y redimible. Ésta, sin embargo, no generó consenso entre los mexicanos. This article analyzes the public diplomacy of the government of Lázaro Cárdenas, focusing on the administration’s decision to publicize the nation’s poverty internationally, especially in the United States. This study suggests that this was an unprecedented strategy, putting “national prestige” at risk in order to explain the importance of implementing the reforms contained in the Six Year Plan, in the face of public opinion in the United States. Taking advantage of the increased empathy felt towards the poor during the New Deal, a specific image of hygienic and redeemable poverty was constructed. However, this strategy did not generate agreement among Mexicans.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document