The Costa Rican Civil War took place from 12 March to 24 April 1948. The conflict followed the presidential elections of 8 February 1948, in which opposition candidate Otilio Ulate defeated the ruling party's Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. The pro-government representatives who dominated the Legislative Assembly alleged that that Ulate's victory was fraudulent, and on 1 March, the legislature voted to annul the results of the election. This triggered an armed uprising led by José Figueres Ferrer, a businessman who had not participated in the elections, against the government of President Teodoro Picado.
The uprising was resisted by the small, ill-equipped Costa Rican army and, more significantly, by the militias of the Communist People's Vanguard Party, which was part of the governing coalition in the Legislative Assembly and had voted to annul the presidential elections. Figueres' rebels rapidly defeated the government forces and their Communist allies, forcing President Picado to step down and leave the country along with former president Calderón Guardia. About 2,000 people are believed to have died during the war, making it the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa...
Patricia Aas
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