The coup d'état of April 27, 1870 in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

was a coup implemented by the military leadership led by

Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez General Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez (December 16, 1831 – July 6, 1882) was President of Costa Rica on two occasions: from 1870 to 1876, and from 1877 to 1882. On 27 April 1870 Tomás Guardia was one of a group of army officers who depose ...

and it established, to a large extent, the inauguration of the

Liberal State The Liberal State is the historical period in Costa Rica that occurred approximately between 1870 and 1940. It responded to the hegemonic dominion in the political, ideological and economic aspects of liberal philosophy. It is considered a per ...

. It also enacted the

Costa Rican Constitution of 1871 The Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1871 has been the longest duration Constitution in the history of the country, as except for brief periods, it was in force between 1871 and 1949. Influenced by the Liberals, the Constitution of 1871 wa ...

, the longest in Costa Rican history as it remained in force until 1948. The coup overthrew the de facto president

Jesús Jiménez Zamora Jesús María Ciriaco Jiménez Zamora (June 18, 1823 – February 12, 1897) was President (government title), President of Costa Rica on two occasions: 1863 to 1866, and 1868 to 1870. He was popularly elected in 1863, but dissolved Congress two ...

and was originally set by former president

José María Montealegre Fernández José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, who aspired the return to power by force. A group of soldiers led by the Guardia clandestinely entered the Army Headquarters, then see of the army and took control of it. However, Guardia did not hand over power to Montealegre but to

Bruno Carranza José Bruno Carranza Ramírez (October 5, 1822 – January 25, 1891) was briefly President of Costa Rica (albeit with the title ''Temporary Head of the Republic'') in 1870. Bruno Carranza came to power in the coup d'état of 27 April 1870 tha ...

who soon afterwards resigns and the Guardia-dominated

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

appoints Guardia directly. Guardia was very popular among the military, especially for his heroic performance in the

Filibuster War The Filibuster War or Walker affair was a military conflict between filibustering multinational troops stationed in Nicaragua and a coalition of Central American armies. An American mercenary William Walker invaded Nicaragua in 1855 with a sma ...

. While Montealegre and Jiménez both belonged to the group of antimoristas who had overthrown and executed the hero of the

Juan Rafael Mora Porras Juan Rafael Mora Porras (8 February 1814, San José, Costa Rica – 30 September 1860) was President of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859. Life and career He first assumed the presidency following the resignation of his younger brother, Miguel M ...

, as well as sought to erase his memory of Costa Rican history, Guardia on the contrary had been Morista himself and after the coup he took enormous efforts to connect his own figure and government with that of Mora. Guard did not belong to the powerful Costa Rican coffee oligarchy, a political elite that had ruled continuously until then. His power was maintained only by the loyal support he had of the troops. Immediately after the coup, Guardia would convene a Constituent Assembly that drafted a new constitution, highly progressive for the time and with strong liberal roots. He abolished the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

, "desoligarquized" the political system and carried out many infrastructure works. The date of the coup was commemorated every year under his regime using music bands that roamed the country, with civic acts in the municipal councils of each provincial capital, military parades, a mass and banquet. Guard would rule as strong man of the country directly or through front men until his death in 1882.

References

{{Armed conflicts involving Costa Rica 1870s coups d'état and coup attempts History of Costa Rica