Costa Rican Civil War 1948

Costa Rica's presidential election of 1948 was won by Otilio Ulate (1895-1973), but the results were declared invalid and annulled by the congress on March 1, 1948. Immediately civil war broke out between Ulate's followers, led by Colonel Jose "Pepe" Figueres Ferrer (1906-1990), a Costa Rican planter, and the supporters of the defeated presidential candidate, Rafael Calderon Guardia (1900-1970). Figueres's force, called the "Caribbean Legion," battled successfully against Calderon's forces, which included government troops and communists and which received outside aid from President Anastasio Somoza (1896-1956) of Nicaragua and President Tiburcio Carias Andino (1876-1969) of Honduras. On April 28, 1948, after about six weeks of fighting, Figueres entered the capital city of San Jose and ousted the government. On May 8, 1948, he established a ruling military junta, over which he presided for 18 months.

References

Dictionary of Wars, 128.

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