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REPORTS: COSTA RICA |
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A People Without Arms: 55 Years of
Costa Rican Demilitarization
by Mauricio Artinano
Fifty-five years ago today, on Dec. 1,
1948, a ceremony took place in San José,
Costa Rica that would change the future
of my country forever. On that day, José
Figueres Ferrer, president of the
governing junta, stood up on one of the
turrets of Fort Bellavista in San José
and knocked down one of the walls with a
sledgehammer.
He then handed the keys of the fort to
the Minister of Education and announced
that the fort would hence become a
National Museum. Figueres then proceeded
to officially disband the tiny Costa
Rican army and a few months later, under
Article 12 of the new Constitution,
Costa Rica became one of the first
countries in the world to
constitutionally abolish the existence
of a standing army.
At that time, Costa Rica was coming out
of a short civil war in which Figueres
led a force that fought the government's
forces after it refused to recognize the
election of the rival candidate.
Figueres then installed a civilian junta
to bring stability to the country, draft
a new Constitution and pave the way
toward a peaceful transition of power.
Figueres' decision to abolish the
military seems very perplexing when one
considers the circumstances under which
the decision was taken. Having just
taken power through a violent struggle,
it would have seemed more logical to
strengthen the army to secure the new
government's power. Not only was there
domestic instability, but the new regime
was also being threatened by the forces
of Nicaraguan dictator Anastacio Somoza,
a sworn enemy of Figueres and an ally of
the government that Figueres had
deposed.
However, Figueres' decision was actually
a work of political genius. The army had
often interfered with political
succession in Costa Rica. By eliminating
the military, Figueres was removing a
potential source of political
instability. Figueres was also confident
that Costa Rica was safe from external
invasion since he had the backing of the
US government. The US had been
suspicious of the previous government's
alliance with the Communist Party and
was happy to see it replaced with a
regime led by the resolutely
anti-communist Figueres.
Moreover, just three days after
abolishing the army, Costa Rica signed
the Río Treaty. This defensive alliance
between the US and the Latin American
nations promised mutual assistance under
the framework of the Organization of
American States if any member was
threatened by external aggression.
Figueres also believed that by
eliminating Costa Rica's army, he would
strengthen the nation's moral standing
in the international community, as
without a military there was no way the
country could ever be accused of
aggression. Figueres thus felt confident
that Costa Rica would be safe from
foreign invasion through its commitment
to non-violence and international
cooperation.
His gamble paid off; on two occasions,
one just weeks after the abolition of
the army and the other in 1955, Costa
Rican exiles launched invasions from
Nicaragua and both times they were
halted by US and OAS forces.
The absence of a military has since been
a defining feature of the Costa Rican
national character. As our former
president Oscar Arias said in his Nobel
Peace Prize acceptance speech, "Mine is
a people without arms, whose children
have never seen a combat plane, nor a
tank, nor a battleship... our children
walk with books under their arms rather
than guns on their shoulders."
Costa Ricans pride ourselves in the
pacifist character of our foreign policy
and in the fact that while so many of
our sister Latin American nations have
endured the scourge of military
dictatorships, we have had a peaceful
and democratic transition of power for
more than half a century. Costa Rica's
refusal to spend our scarce resources on
building armies and fighting wars has
also been an important reason why our
standard of living comes close to that
of the advanced industrialized
democracies, with a life expectancy of
76 years (compared with the US's 77) and
a literacy rate of 96% (compared with
the US's 97%).
Most importantly, the fact that we do
not have a military makes us feel safe
rather than insecure, for we know that
so long as we remained unarmed, there is
no reason or plausible justification for
another country to attack us.
Realists speak of anarchy and a state of
perpetual war between nations, but my
country's example demonstrates that it
is indeed possible to renounce the use
of violence and be safe without the need
for armies. This idea of safety is
possible by forfeiting the capacity of
waging war is reinforced by the fact
that both Haiti and our neighbor Panama
have also abolished their military
forces in the past decade.
It is my hope that this move toward
demilitarization can spread throughout
Latin America, where so much misery has
been caused by military rule and where
money should be invested in social
development rather than on weapons. It
is also my hope that someday, this
phenomenon can spread throughout the
world, and other nations may join us in
condemning violence and renouncing war
forever.
Just as Costa Rica is an oasis of peace
and tranquility in a world where war and
violence persist, each of us can be our
own Costa Rica by providing an example
of peace and non-violence to others. In
a world where violence is so rampant, we
can choose to become part of the
solution by setting an example through
peaceful coexistence, solidarity towards
others, and a condemnation of all forms
of violence.
Through small but meaningful expressions
of love and kindness, through
forgiveness, tolerance and non-violence,
we can build upon our hope and move our
world forward toward a distant but
powerful vision of a world without
violence.
By sowing seeds of peace and compassion,
we as individuals can start a revolution
of love and peace whereby we demonstrate
that human beings can indeed coexist
peacefully with one other. Today, as my
country proudly celebrates 55 years of
peace, I look upon it as I always have,
as an inspiring and hopeful sign that
war and violence are not preexistent and
predetermined facets of the human
condition and that peace is in fact
possible.
* Mauricio Artinano is from Costa Rica.
He is a sophomore majoring in
International Relations.
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