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In-Depth Information
to rule North and Central America. His
name would be execrated in postindepen-
dence Mexico, but for generations of Span-
iards he would be a national hero and the
epitome of the conquistador.
tlers in the late 1530s and remained sub-
ject to the Spanish Crown until the breakup
of the empire in the region in 1821. Briefly
linked to the Mexican regime under
A
GUSTÍN
DE
I
TURBIDE
, Costa Rica trans-
ferred its alignment to the United Prov-
inces of Central America but left that group
in 1838 and pursued an independent des-
tiny thereafter.
Costa Gomes, Francisco da
(1914-2001)
Portuguese soldier and politician
As president from 1974 to 1976, this gen-
eral oversaw the dismantling of Portugal's
colonial empire when independence was
granted to A
NGOLA
, M
OZAMBIQUE
, C
APE
V
ERDE
I
SLANDS
, and S
ÃO
T
OMÉ
AND
P
RÍN
-
CIPE
. Born in Trás-os-Montes, Costa Gomes
rose through the ranks to high military
assignments at home and abroad. He was
chief of military command in M
ACAO
,
served on the North Atlantic Treaty Orga-
nization headquarters staff in England, and
later was undersecretary of state for the
army, rising to brigadier general. From
1972 to the end of the Salazar-Caetano
regime he was the head of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. After the overthrow of the dicta-
torship General Costa Gomes served as
president for two years, during which he
implemented his policies of independence
for the colonies and domestic tranquillity.
Following his retirement in 1981 he was
awarded the title of marshal, his country's
highest military rank.
Cuba
This large island (44,000 square miles) in
the Caribbean was claimed for Spain by
C
HRISTOPHER
C
OLUMBUS
in 1492. Conquest
was begun in 1509 by D
IEGO
V
ELÁZQUEZ
DE
C
UÉLLAR
, and the virtual extinction of the
Amerindian population led to the importa-
tion of large numbers of slaves from Africa,
whose presence became a major factor in
the island's development. Cuba was the
major staging area for the exploration and
conquest of the mainland Americas. Part of
the viceroyalty of N
EW
S
PAIN
and the island
itself a captaincy general within the Span-
ish military and administrative structure,
Cuba was also a transit point for the ship-
ment of mineral wealth to Spain. Its capital,
Havana, was captured by the British in
1762 but regained a year later. With its
defenses strengthened Cuba withstood the
revolutionary movement that swept away
most of Spain's other possessions in the
early 19th century and continued to be a
prosperous agricultural colony, exporting
sugar and tobacco, even after the abolition
of slavery in 1876. A revolutionary move-
ment was suppressed (the Ten Years' War)
in 1868-78. A new independence struggle
was launched in 1895. In 1898, following
the destruction of the USS
Maine
in Havana
harbor, the United States, which for many
Costa Rica
The coastline of this region was first
observed by C
HRISTOPHER
C
OLUMBUS
dur-
ing his 1502 voyage and further explored
by an expedition sent in the 1520s by
P
EDRARIAS
D
ÁVILA
, governor of P
ANAMA
.
Costa Rica was occupied by Spanish set-
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