PEACE

Part of the draw to Costa Rica for us was the absence of an army. I found this article on "Lonely Planet" that give the history of how they got rid of their army.

Unarmed democracy

Early Costa Rican politics followed the Central American pattern of violence and dictatorship. In the 19th century, a few favored aristocrats competed to control patronage in the new state. The military, the Church and, most of all, the coffee barons were the main sources of influence. Presidents were more often removed at gunpoint, than by the ballot box.

In 1842 Francisco Morazan, the last head of the CAF, returned to Costa Rica and became president via a coup. Morazan set the precedent for using arms to come to power, but he also confirmed that power was fleeting without elite support. He was executed shortly thereafter.

After this inauspicious start, political life slowly became more civil. A number of democratically inspired constitutions were enacted, and just as quickly discarded when elite fears were aroused. By the late 19th century, the eligible electorate expanded from 2% to 10% of the adult population. Military strongman, Tomas Guardia, forced higher taxes on the coffee barons to finance social reform. By the early 20th century, Costa Rica had free public education, a guaranteed minimum wage and child protection laws. Denied the right to participate, disenfranchised groups resorted to protest politics. In 1918 women school teachers and students staged effective strikes against the despotic displays of President Frederico Tinoco, who soon resigned.

Beginning in 1940, events would lead Costa Rica onto a more democratic path. At this time, President Rafael Calderon defied elite expectations, by championing the rights of the working class and the poor. Calderon orchestrated a powerful alliance between workers and the Church. The inevitable conservative reaction was unleashed in full force in the 1948 presidential election. Costa Rica briefly descended into civil war. The business community staged its own strike threatening an economic crisis, armed workers battled military forces, and Nicaraguan and US forces joined in the fray. Peace was restored in less than two months, but with 2000 deaths.

Out of the chaos came a coffee grower and utopian democrat, José Figueres Ferrer. As head of a temporary junta government, Figueres enacted nearly 1000 decrees. He taxed the wealthy, nationalized the banks, and built a modern welfare state. His 1949 constitution granted full citizenship and voting rights to women, blacks, indigenous groups and Chinese minorities. Most extraordinarily, he abolished the military, calling it a threat to democracy. Figueres proved to be a transformative figure in Costa Rican politics. His revolutionary regime became the foundation for Costa Rica’s unique and unarmed democracy