Published on Monday, December 1, 2025
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Costa Rica on Monday marks the 77th anniversary of the abolition of its military, a national holiday observed annually on December 1.

Army Abolition Day is a paid national holiday. The Ministry of Labor notes that employees may work on the holiday only by mutual agreement with their employer, in which case they receive an additional day’s pay.

President Rodrigo Chaves-Robles is scheduled to lay a wreath and deliver remarks on Monday at 7 p.m. at the monument honoring former President José Figueres-Ferrer in the Democracy Plaza in San José.

The president will be joined by First Lady Signe Zeikate and members of his cabinet.

Figueres, born Sept. 25, 1906, and who died June 8, 1990, led the historic decision to dismantle the armed forces.

The holiday commemorates Figueres’ declaration on Dec. 1, 1948, abolishing the army after a civil war that his forces had won earlier that year. According to the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), Costa Rica maintained an army until its founding, and then until the 1948 conflict.

Shortly after assuming office, Figueres famously struck a wall at the Bellavista Barracks, then the army headquarters, in a symbolic act marking the end of the military. The former barracks now houses part of the National Museum in San José.

“On Dec. 1, 1948, I gave some blows on a wall of the Bellavista Barracks to symbolize the elimination of the military spirit of Costa Rica,” Figueres said during a public commemoration of the event, according to the ministry.

Costa Rica’s 1949 Constitution formally abolished the army and redirected former military funding to strengthen the public education system.

That same year, the government created the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), responsible for citizen safety, public order, police training and coordination of anti-crime efforts.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency reports that Costa Rica is one of 39 countries and territories worldwide without a standing military.

The anniversary comes shortly after the death of Rita Karen Olsen Beck, former First Lady of Costa Rica and U.S. citizen, at age 95. She married Figueres served as First Lady during his 1954–1958 and 1970–1974 terms.

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