On April 11th, Costa Rica honors Juan Santamaría Day, a national
holiday that commemorates the 1856 Costa Rican militia victory over William
Walker's mercenary army in the Nicaraguan town of Rivas.
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| Rodtico21/Flikr |
While
many details about Juan Santamaría's early life are a matter of conjecture, it is
believed that he was born in the town of Alajuela in the 1830s and grew up
working as a farm laborer, most likely on a coffee plantation. Along with
other young men who worked the land, Santamaría answered then president Juan
Rafael Mora's call to join together to form a militia, charged with defending
Costa Rica from the imminent threat of U.S. filibuster William Walker's
mercenary army following Walker's invasion of Nicaragua.
The purpose of Walker's ventures into Central America was to form an English-speaking
private-slave trading empire modeled after regions of the southern U.S.
By exploiting Nicaragua’s fragile economic and political state (due to a civil
war that broke out in 1854 as a result of fierce disagreements between liberal
and conservative political parties), Walker hoped to take control of the
country, with the intention to expand his control throughout Central America.
A prior physician, lawyer, and journalist, Walker amassed a group of more than
300 mercenaries during his efforts to take control of Nicaragua. From
1856-1857, he essentially assumed the power of the presidency and was supported by southern political figures in the U.S. Costa Rican President Juan Rafael Mora, threatened by the close proximity of
Walker's forces, declared war.
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| ticotimes.net |
Over the
course of several battles between the American Confederate army and the Costa
Rican militia on Costa Rican soil, the Costa Ricans pushed Walker's men
northward into Nicaragua. During the Second Battle of Rivas, the Costa
Rican militia outnumbered Walker’s men, but the invadors held a strategic
advantage by camping at a hostel called Meson de Guerra, which was difficult
for the Costa Rican's to penetrate.
The
legend of Juan Santamaría recounts
that Santamaría sacrificed his life for the Costa Rican cause. Due to the
foreign army's strategic advantage at Meson de Guerra, the Costa Ricans needed
to devise a way to drive the enemy out of their stronghold. After several
failures to light the stronghold on fire, Santamaría volunteered to be the next
soldier to take up the torch, under the condition that someone would look after
his mother if he should die. In a heroic effort, Santamaría was shot down
by the enemy, but not before he was able to set the stronghold ablaze,
crippling the American forces beyond recovery. He died from fatal
injuries on April 11, 1856.
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| Parque Juan Santamaría; Rodrigo Fernandez/Flikr |
Santamaría epitomizes an archetypal heroic figure, a young man
with humble beginnings who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend his country.
His heroic efforts won the Second Battle of Rivas and secured Costa Rica's
overall victory over William Walker's forces. Decades passed until
Santamaría was immortalized for his importance in the war in an 1891 political
campaign to stir national pride.
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| The Tico Times |
Today, Costa Rica continues
to honor the figure of Juan Santamaría. Numerous statues of Santamaría
have been erected throughout the country. In addition, the Airport
outside of San Juan (technically located in Alajuela) was renamed Juan
Santamaría International Airport. Juan Santamaría Day in Alajuela is a
celebration of Costa Rican independence, fidelity, and loyalty, often featuring
traditional dances, parades, music performances, and food– here's a
collection of beautiful
pictures
of the festivities.
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| Juan Santamaría International Airport; bestcostaricadmc |
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