  Figueres is known as the leader of the 1948 Revolution in Costa Rica and served as the beloved president of the country for three non-consecutive terms. - Casa Presidencial photo - |
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 Published Thursday, January 14, 2021
Costa Rican revolution leader
recognized as Hero of Peace By A.M. Costa Rica staff Lawmakers returning to work in Congress after a holiday vacation, as one of the first actions for 2021 recognized José Figueres Ferrer as Hero of Peace. Figueres is known as the leader of the 1948 Revolution in Costa Rica and served as the beloved president of the country for three non-consecutive terms. According to Congress, this is the first time such a distinction has been awarded in the country. On Dec. 1, 2020, the country celebrated 72 years of the Army Abolition Day. The holiday recognizes Dec. 1, 1948, when the former President and General Figueres, abolished the army. Figueres served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: from 1948 to 1949, 1953 to1958 and 1970 to 1974. The dissolution happened on the tails of a civil war that Figueres’s forces won. Until then, the Army had been a legal institution with economic resources and support from the national budget since the nation’s founding, according to the statement by the Ministry of Education. Figueres, after becoming president, demolished a wall of the Bellavista barracks, then the Army headquarters, in a symbolic ceremony. Today the building is part of the National Museum.  "On Dec. 1, 1948, I gave some blows on a wall of the Bellavista Barracks to symbolize the elimination of the remains of the military spirit of Costa Rica at another time," Figueres said in a statement in 1988. In 1949, the elimination of the army was incorporated into the political constitution of the reformed Costa Rican Republic. "This allowed us to use the budgets previously assigned to the army in the development of the public education system," the ministry said in its statement. President Carlos Alvarado said in a statement in Dec. 2020, that the nation was ahead of its time in dissolving its armed forces. "Today more than ever, history agrees with this small country that a visionary decided to invest in the well-being of the greatest number, in education and the health of its people and not in arms," Alvarado said. According to the CIA World Factbook besides Costa Rica, there are 21 more independent countries that don't have regular military forces, such as Andorra, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Iceland, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, Panama, St. Lucia, St. Vincent of the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vatican City. ---------------- Have you visited another country without an army besides Costa Rica? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com  |
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