A week after Costa Rica celebrated the 66th anniversary of the abolition of its armed forces, President Luis Guillermo Solís criticized growing arms spending in Latin America during a speech at the Ibero-American Summit in Veracruz, Mexico, on Sunday. In his remarks Solís noted a “troubling” tendency in the region toward militarization.
On Monday, the Legislative Assembly passed a motion to nominate Costa Rica and Japan for a Nobel Peace Prize for their decision to abolish their armies as permanent institutions, according to a lawmaker.
Standing before the marigold crenelated National Museum — once the Bellavista Fortress that served as a barracks for Costa Rican troops — President Luis Guillermo Solís celebrated the 66th anniversary of the abolition of the army alongside veterans of the Civil War and National Army and students on Monday.
The documentary film “El Codo del Diablo” sets out to reveal a hidden history of Costa Rica by revisiting a terrible crime that unfolded in Limón in 1948.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales claimed the United States had abolished Costa Rica's army. In actuality, Costa Rica abolished its own army in 1948, and the U.S. was not involved.