Juan Rafael Mora Porras
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Juan Rafael Mora Porras (8 February 1814,
San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...
– 30 September 1860) was President of
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 ...
from 1849 to 1859.


Life and career

He first assumed the presidency following the resignation of his younger brother,
Miguel Mora Porras José Miguel Mora Porras (29 September 1816 – 15 June 1887) was interim President of Costa Rica from 15 November to 26 November 1849, when he turned over power to his older brother Juan Rafael Mora Porras Juan Rafael Mora Porras (8 Februar ...
, and was subsequently reelected in 1853 and 1859. His administration modified the constitution, increasing the requirements to hold citizenship. A high yearly income was required to be a citizen; this left the majority of the population without the right to vote or run for office. The previous electoral system required citizens to be male, to be born in the country, and to be of age to have electoral rights. This dramatic change coincided with the privatization of the commons; the landless peasants who depended on the
commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
were left helpless since they had no political representation and no means of achieving it given the changes in the new constitution. In 1856 he led his country's forces in Central America's
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 ...
against William Walker and his
filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
regime in
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
. For Costa Rican historiography the war is divided into three parts: The First Campaign (March–April 1856), The Second Campaign or Transit Campaign (October 1856–May 1857), and The Third Campaign (August–December 1857) Mora, along with Bishop Anselmo Llorente had previously given a series of speeches to arouse the people preparing for the upcoming war. The speeches emphasized the threat posed by the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
filibusters to the country's
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
identity. The president gave his brother
José Joaquín Mora Porras José Joaquín Mora Porras (1818–1860) was a Costa Rican politician. He was the younger brother of the presidents of that country, Juan Rafael Mora Porras and Miguel Mora Porras and was deputy commander of San Jose, Costa Rica. During th ...
the supreme command of the army. Three battles were fought during the First Campaign: Santa Rosa, Sardinal and Rivas; these series of battles managed to stop Walker's invasion to Guanacaste—at the time known as "Moracia" in the president's honour. During the Rivas Battle
Cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
spread out on both filibuster and Costa Rican forces. Costa Ricans under the impression that cholera was acquired on "ill-aired" locations fled from Rivas taking the water-borne disease into the country causing the death of 10% of the population. For Costa Ricans the war was postponed until October 1856, the starting point for The Second Campaign. The emphasis of the Second Campaign was to cut off Walker's supply route which used the San Juan River and the steamboats taken by the filibusters from the
Accessory Transit Company The Accessory Transit Company was a company set up by Cornelius Vanderbilt and others during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, to transport would-be prospectors from the east coast of the United States to the west coast. At the time, an ov ...
. There is no knowledge of the Third Campaign. There is still discussion on the intellectual authorship of the capture of the Rio San Juan. Some Costa Ricans, like historian Rafael Obregón Loría, claim it was Mora who planned the capture. However, Mora met on November 1856 with Silvanius Spencer,
Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
's agent, who offered his help on the capture of the San Juan river. In spite of earning acclaim as a national hero for his efforts in that endeavor, he was overthrown in a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
orchestrated by his opponent Jose Maria Montealegre in August 1859. He fled to
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
, where his supporters convinced him to launch an attack on Costa Rica and recoup the presidency. After initial victories, in which he succeeded in seizing the port of
Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas (canton), Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which is made from the Puntar ...
, he was defeated, captured, and, on 30 September 1860, brought before a
firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
. His nephew, whom he helped raise, was the writer Manuel Argüello Mora. His great-great-great-niece is actress
Madeleine Stowe Madeleine Marie Stowe Mora (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film ''Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (199 ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mora Porras, Juan Rafael 1814 births 1860 deaths People from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican people of Spanish descent Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica Executed presidents Executed Costa Rican people People executed by Costa Rica by firing squad 19th-century executions by Costa Rica 19th-century Costa Rican people Costa Rican liberals