Description

Juan Santamaria

William Walker was a free-booter. In 1854, before the Panama Canal was constructed, the inter-oceanic trade route was across a narrow isthmus of land in Nicaragua. Walker took mercenaries and went into the region and entered into a series of military campaigns designed to overthrow the national governments of several Central American Nations, particularly Nicaragua and establish them as slave-holding states tied to the American South.

In what came to be known as the Second Battle of Rivas, in April 1856, Costa Rican forces launched a preemptive strike against Walker. They prevailed until Walker’s forces took refuge in a fortress called Meson De Guerra. The fighting was fierce, but as long as Walker and his usurpers held this position there was nothing that could be done. General Jose Maria Canas asked for volunteers to burn the fort. A young man named Juan Santamaria, a peasant farmer from Alajuela volunteered. According to the traditional account, he is said to have made only one request and that is that if he was killed, someone would look after his mother.

Carrying a burning torch, he approached the fortress and was mortally wounded. Before he died, he managed to set the building on fire, forcing Walker and his forces out into open combat. The Costa Ricans won the battle and Walker was eventually defeated, tried, and executed.

Some 29 years later when Costa Rican independence was again being threatened the story of Juan Santamaria’s selfless sacrifice was recalled and retold. His story became a rallying symbol of national pride and identity. He became the hero of Costa Rica—the symbol of patriotism. Today the torch of Juan Santamaria is on the country’s coat of arms and every April 11 is a national holiday—Juan Santamaria day.

The stories of our history and heritage become cherished and even sacred when, and only when, they become personal. To each Costa Rican, Juan Santamaria gave his life for them.