Thirdly, establishing a government structure is very difficult, given that it takes extensive trial and error to develop. Coups and authoritative dictatorships have plagued most Latin American countries preventing democracy to take root. This type of system has been transferred into how their politics is still set up today. Costa Rica shared these troubles like many other Latin American countries, but learned from their mistakes and counteracted it early on. By understanding that the system they had would not help them progress, the development of democracy helped to achieve the political stability their country has today. Due to historical conditions Costa Rica was not susceptible to a lot of issues that created a path for caudillos or dictators …show more content…
to come into power. To better understand the struggle of Costa Rica and how they effectively achieved a democracy I will begin with their historical background in politics. Costa Rica consisted of a rural agricultural society, which depended on what was solely produced.
"The aristocracy governed successfully for some time without militarizing itself, and as a politicized army developed, Costa Ricans developed the practice of civilian rule."(Booth, John, 1987, p.44).The idea of civilian rule was not knew to Costa Rican's and since it was familiar, it was not seen as a huge shock when the government became open to the public. The country underwent a military dictatorship from "1917-19 under the Tinoco brothers, which was ousted by a coalition that restored civilian rule."(Palmer and Molina, 2004, p.139). Many argue that Costa Rica did not experience the violent governmental abuse seen in other Latin countries, which is true, to a certain extent. The only real head turning event in Costa Rica's politics that caught attention was the ousting of Dr. Angel Calderon Guardia by the opposition led by Jose Figueres. "It was the bloodiest political event in the country's history, with a death toll of at least four thousand in only five weeks" (Palmer and Molina, 2004, P. …show more content…
139) Shifting to the emergence of political parties you have two parties that truly resonate with Costa Rica, which currently is the Partido liberacion Nacional led by Figueres and the National Republic Party led by Calderon Guardia. Dr. Angel Calderon Guardia was head of a traditional party that pushed for extreme social reform. He had strong ties with the Catholic Church from where he received a lot of his advice on policy reform. Then you had Jose "Don Pepe" Figuere Ferrer who was head of an opposition junta that also pushed for social reform and education. With a constant increase in literacy and funding for education the "lay" people were now able to join the political arena. Costa Rica showed more signs of progression by converting institutions that were only for the elites to now being available to the masses" In doing so more people were able to obtain a higher education which resulted in an influx of "new thinking."(Mendiola, 1989, p.335). The public was no longer cut off, and had the freedom to voice their opinion which we see through the victory of Figueres. "Under the leadership of Jose Figueres Ferrer, the middle sector forces eventually unified and adopted strongly anticommunist, yet reformist, social democratic policies."(Palmer and Molina, 2004, p.) Figueres came into power in a unique way, because he led an opposition against the "successor" of Calderon, Teodeo Picado. During 1948 Otilio Ulate won the presidential campaign, but conspirators pushed that the campaign was fraudulent. Figueres then came into power, and "It was agreed that Figueres should hand over power to Dr. Ulate after a period of eighteen months."(D.K.M.K, 1955, p.131). During this period he enforced social reform along with nationalizing government sectors to strengthen the economy. (D.K.M.K, 1955, p.131). In 1949, Figueres released the power as promised to Ulate, which demonstrated peaceful adherence to democratic tendencies. This justified the standing constitution and acknowledge the importance of a fairly elected president. At this moment Costa Rica was set apart from the other nations, because Figueres could have easily created another coup. During 1948 the country officially abolished their military, which at the time aided a lot of despotic leaders in gaining access to power. According to Busey, "most of Costa Rica's neighbors, dictatorship has played a small role in Costa Rican political life."(Busey, 1961, p.63). With this platform and the peaceful handover by Figueres a democracy was truly born, which was not susceptible to be dissolved by military rule. Conclusion In Conclusion, Costa Rica has come a long way from its isolated colonial era.
This fortified country has made shifts to obtain a true democratic system. From sacrifices, crisis, and authoritative rule, there attempt to rebuild their nation resulted in long lasting stability. Latin countries since colonial times have grown accustomed to the life of strife, in which changes are only made temporarily. For one to actually set out plan that will last for the future is true progression. As mentioned earlier where there is progress there is stability and vice versa. Costa Rica has made the effort to initiate program that will build their country. Democracy has a great deal of influence on Costa Rica becoming a cohesive nation through the economic, social, and political factors. The sense of unity that the country has been born through the seed of democracy. The citizens share a community based image of what they are an apart of. Benedict Anderson coined the phrase “imagined communities, stemming from Rousseau ideology, which I feel this nation can identify with. (Engel, 2005, pg.537). Not only can this nation relate to this imagined community by struggle, but also victory. Many countries can only associated their unity with the struggle the country has faced. This shows that the nation is not making the proper moves to better the quality of life for their people. Costa Rica is far removed from the typical assertion of a “Central American” country, because they were focused on
progress. Through determination and great stride Costa Rica truly is a role model for other Latin nations looking to progress.
The United States of America and Costa Rica’s constitutions have several similarities and differences. The United States and Costa Rica have two of the most successful constitutional republics in the history of the world. They are alike in several ways, however, there are some major differences that allows them to thrive in their own environments. There are many components that describe the two countries: physical structure, traditions and how the constitutions were established, how the constitutions work, languages, military, religion, education, voting rights, presidential elections, and structure of the legislative branch, presidential terms, vice presidents, and Supreme Court justices.
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina is without a doubt one of the most known figures within the Dominican history. The “Era de Trujillo” (The Trujillo Era) occupied the Dominican Republic for the long period of thirty-one years. His dictatorship started in 1930 and ended with his assassination on May 30, 1961. Trujillo’s Career began with the occupation of the United States in 1916. During this time he was trained in a military school, and became part of the National Police, a military group made by the Unites States to maintain order in the Dominican Republic . Trujillo stood out during his military career and rapidly ascended within the military ranges. Under the government of Horatio Vasquez Trujillo received the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was put in charge of chiefs and assistant commanders of the National Police . This new position gave him the opportunity to be part of the overthrowing of Horatio Vasquez. Trujillo was sworn into presidency on August 16, 1930. Marking the beginning of what is known as the cruel, violent and controversial part of history in the Dominican Republic.
Captivation or being restrained due to certain circumstances that prevents free choice is usually one of many great reasons to form revolutionary ideas. To get from captivation to liberation, one must consider change, a major component needed in order to gain freedom after enslavement. Latin America, in the eighteen hundreds, sought the need for change due to the resentment of the Spanish rule. Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary leader of Latin America, will seek independence from Spain. It was in Jamaica where Bolivar wrote a letter known as the “Jamaican Letter”, one of Bolivar’s greatest proposals. The letter emphasizes his thoughts and meanings of the revolution while envisioning a variety of governmental structures, of the New World, that could one day be recognized.
Trujillo use of violence and challenge of political authority demonstrated that from the very beginning he created an insurgency regime within his military ranks that oppressed his country. Which 30 years later, his own military generals and freedom fighters will be the very ones to end his reign. To this very day, some of the Dominican people whether living in the United States or Dominican Republic are hesitate to talk about it, but are glad that it is in the past and
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina reigned over the Dominican Republic in a dictatorship, extending over thirty years. He is known as having been the “most ruthless dictator in Latin America.” However, there is another side to the story. Trujillo was the third son of a humble sheep herder and worked as a sugar plantation guard in his adolescent years. He enlisted in the United States Marines Corp during the U.S.’s occupation in the Dominican Republic. He built himself up to National Commander and claimed presidency in 1930. He was a man known to be surrounded by “a surfeit of booze, women, wealth, power, and enemies.” Until his final years, he was admired by the Dominican people and seen as a demi-god and savior. During his first prosperous years
Today I bring to your forefront of thought, the island of Hispaniola. This island is the namesake for the two countries who run the land, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both nations hail from a joint introduction into the world market and post-European colonization, but as time progressed, each one had a different outlook to the world stage. The present day Dominican Republic and Haiti are worlds apart on an island which keeps them together. Their culture is separated by the colonial residuals that lay imbedded into their communities. They are on different sides of the spectrum of structural growth due to the resulting outcomes from decades of political ruling and policy making. On one side we have the second independent state of the Americas,
Guatemala held democratic elections in 1944 and 1951, they resulted in leftist government groups holding power and rule of the country. Intervention from the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed a more conservative military minded regime. A military coup took place in 1954 to over throw the elected government and install the rule of Carlos Castillo Armas. Carlos Armas was a military general before the coup and with the CIA orchestrated operation he was made President from July 8th 1954 until his assassination in 1957. Upon his assassination, similar militant minded presidents rose to power and continued to run the country. Due to the nature of military dictatorship, in 1960, social discontent began to give way to left wing militants made up of the Mayan indigenous people and rural peasantry. This is the match that lit Guatemala’s Civil War, street battles between the two groups tore the country and pressured the autocratic ruler General Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes to fight harder against the civilian insurrection. Similar to the government Abductions th...
After gaining independence, Latin American countries had difficulty in how to govern the newly instated states. In the chaos, people took advantage of this and instated themselves as dictators. They had simply took the position from the Spanish that they tried to vanquish (class notes). The power structure remained and the people who fought for independence were largely ignored and continuously oppressed. These dictatorships had remained in power until very recently. Paraguay was finally freed from the dictatorship in 1989 (Chapter
The history of political instability in Mexico and its need for revolution is very complex and dates back to the colonization of Mexico by the Spaniards in the 1500s. However, many aspects of the social situation of Mexico when the Revolution broke out can be attributed to the thirty-year dictatorship of President Porfrio Diaz, prior to 1911. The Revolution began in November of 1910 in an effort to overthrow the Diaz dictatorship. Under the Diaz presidency, a small minority of people, primarily relatives and friends, were in ...
The historian Ronn Pineo wrote “Beginning in the 1980s nearly all of Latin America began to take part in a great experiment, the adoption of capitalist free market economic policies.” (1) This great experiment began with the promotion of democracy and free market that promised a better future for Latin America. Neoliberalism, the economic ideology that promotes free-market capitalism, laid the foundation for many of the US military interventions and economic policies that caused a dramatic transformation of Latin America. This promise of a “democratic” government came from a policy initiative labeled as polyarchy. Polyarchy is “ a system in which a small group governs and mass participation in decision making is limited to choosing leaders in elections that are carefully managed by competing elites” (Lecture: Polyarchy and Resistance). It, however, was a sales pitch to continue Latin America’s subordinate position in to the global market. As a result, much of Latin America, by the late 1980 through the early 1990s, transitioned into this form of “democracy”. Consequently, Latin America suffered and still suffers today from underdevelopment, high levels of socioeconomic inequality, and immigration. Globalization of capital, off-shore production, and new technologies have created structural barriers and have
LaFeber, Walter. Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America. New York: W.W. Norton, 1984. Print.
In 1876, Porfirio Diaz, an Indian general in the Mexican Army took control of the nation, and continued to be elected until 1910. This new era was too one way and started the Mexican Revolution. The government eventually allowed Mexico to fall into dictatorship that gave way to a new a powerful upper class. When Diaz came into power he had high hopes for Mexico's future, and established a stable government that rid the nation of crime. The quality of life improved around the towns and the cities.. The way the government worked was expanded when Diaz sent out his strong governors to rural areas. The military was made stronger by using more professional methods of training the soldiers. From this way of training came a military police force called the Rurales made of thousands of troops. This police force kept order and enforced Diazs' laws. Diaz also co...
Christopher Schmidt-Nowara. "Politics and Ideas in Latin American Independence." Latin American Research Review 45, no. 2 (2010): 228-235. http://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed November 14, 2012).
After gaining independence from Spain and Portugal in the 1820s, Latin American colonies had a lot ahead of them. They had to establish their own governments and economies in the midst of recovering from wars. Founding these was going to be difficult as they had been under colonial rule for a long time and there was a lot of unrest in the colonies. Although it would have been difficult there was great potential for a strong economy and democracy. This potential stemmed from a few things. A strong economy would have been possible because Latin America is rich with minerals, gold, and silver. Democracy also seemed attainable, in part from the ideas that started independence movements, including enlightenment ideas and the successful revolution in the United States. A democracy appeared to be very possible but there were also concerns that the newly freed colonies would struggle to establish a strong government, these concerns were addressed by Simon Bolivar in The Jamaica Letter.
Now days democracy has been establish in every Latin America country except Cuba, which is still a socialist state. It seemed that every other alternative form of government such as Marxism or Leninism has failed and been replaced by democracy. Furthermore it looks like people in Latin American really enjoy democracy and its’ benefits, as they also consider it to be the best form of government. After the failure of authoritarian leaders and the military intervene their lives, Latin American citizens wanted to change their system into a more fair and honest system, democracy. Democracy is usually defined as a system of honesty, equality, freedom of rights, though for Latin America countries it means gains, welfare and patronage. Latin American did not work the democratic system properly as it should be and different obstacles keep the system away from being consolidated. Democracy in Latin America still face serious problems in matters as grinding poverty, huge social gaps, corruption, drug dealing, inefficient governments and most importantly governments who promote and use military. The real question is why democracy actually failed even though democracy is what people want. Paraguay is a case of failure in transition democracy because of the corruption and other things that will be argued in this essay. Paraguay and Ecuador are considered to be the only countries that democratization did not achieve consolidation, in differ from Chilli and Central American.