Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
president Ronald Reagan decided it was time to intervene. Just like that, the Cold War ar-
rived in the hot tropics.
The organizational details of the counterrevolution were delegated to Oliver North, an
eager-to-please junior officer working out of the White House basement. North's can-do
creativity helped to prop up the famed Contra rebels to incite civil war in Nicaragua.
While both sides invoked the rhetoric of freedom and democracy, the war was really a turf
battle between left-wing and right-wing forces.
Under intense US pressure, Costa Rica was reluctantly dragged in. The Contras set up
camp in northern Costa Rica, from where they staged guerrilla raids. Not-so-clandestine
CIA operatives and US military advisers were dispatched to assist the effort. A secret
jungle airstrip was built near the border to fly in weapons and supplies. To raise cash for
the rebels, North allegedly used his covert supply network to traffic illegal narcotics
through the region.
The war polarized Costa Rica. From conservative quarters came a loud call to re-estab-
lish the military and join the anticommunist crusade, which was largely underwritten by
the US Pentagon. In May 1984 more than 20,000 demonstrators marched through San José
to give peace a chance, though the debate didn't climax until the 1986 presidential elec-
tion. The victor was 44-year-old Óscar Arias Sánchez, who, despite being born into coffee
wealth, was an intellectual reformer in the mold of Figueres, his political patron.
Once in office, Arias affirmed his commitment to a negotiated resolution and reasserted
Costa Rican national independence. He vowed to uphold his country's pledge of neutrality
and to vanquish the Contras from the territory. The sudden resignation of the US ambas-
sador around this time was suspected to be a result of Arias' strong stance. In a public cere-
mony, Costa Rican schoolchildren planted trees on top of the CIA's secret airfield. Most
notably, Arias became the driving force in uniting Central America around a peace plan,
which ended the Nicaraguan war and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
In 2006 Arias once again returned to the presidential office, winning the popular elec-
tion by a 1.2% margin and subsequently ratifying the controversial Central American Free
Trade Agreement (Cafta).
Prior to his re-election, Óscar Arias Sánchez founded the Arias Foundation for Peace and
Human Progress; on the web at
www.arias.or.cr
.
