Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
longer under forest cover, staging occasional raids. However, as in the rest of Latin Amer-
ica, repeated military campaigns eventually forced them into submission and slavery.
British explorer, government-sponsored pirate and slaver Sir Francis Drake is believed to
have anchored in Bahía Drake in 1579. Rumor has it that he buried some of his plundered
treasure here, but the only solid memorial to the man is a monument that looks out to his
namesake bay.
Fall of an Empire
Spain's costly Peninsular War with France from 1808 to 1814 - and the political turmoil,
unrest and power vacuums that it caused - led Spain to lose all its colonial possessions in
the first third of the 19th century.
In 1821 the Americas wriggled free of Spain's imperial grip following Mexico's declar-
ation of independence for itself as well as the whole of Central America. Of course, the
Central American provinces weren't too keen on having another foreign power reign over
them and subsequently declared independence from Mexico. However, all of these events
hardly disturbed Costa Rica, which learned of its liberation a month after the fact.
The newly liberated colonies pondered their fate: stay together in a United States of
Central America or go their separate national ways. At first they came up with something
in between, namely the Central American Federation (CAF), though it could neither field
an army nor collect taxes. Accustomed to being at the center of things, Guatemala also at-
tempted to dominate the CAF, alienating smaller colonies and hastening its demise. Future
attempts to unite the region would likewise fail.
Meanwhile, an independent Costa Rica was taking shape under Juan Mora Fernández,
first head of state (1824-33). He tended toward nation building, and organized new towns,
built roads, published a newspaper and coined a currency. His wife even partook in the ef-
fort by designing the country's flag.
Life returned to normal, unlike in the rest of the region, where post-independence civil
wars raged on. In 1824 the Nicoya-Guanacaste region seceded from Nicaragua and joined
its more easygoing southern neighbor, defining the territorial borders. In 1852 Costa Rica
received its first diplomatic emissaries from the USA and Great Britain.
