Did you know that Costa Rica abolished all of the country’s armed forces 65 years ago?
On December 1, 1948, President José Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica abolished the military of Costa Rica. In a ceremony in the Cuartel Bellavista (now the National Museum), Figueres broke a wall with a mallet symbolizing the end of Costa Rica’s military spirit. In 1949, the abolition of the military was introduced in Article 12 of the Costa Rican Constitution. In 1986, President Oscar Arias Sánchez declared December 1st the Día de la Abolición del Ejército (Military Abolition Day).
The Los Angeles Times recently ran an op-ed piece on Costa Rica’s armed forces, or lack-thereof, explaining that it is quite possibly the country’s lack of armed forces of any kind (army, navy, etc.) that could be responsible for making Costa Rica one of the happiest places on earth. The only army you’ll find in Costa Rica is an army of ants!