SMALL, INDEPENDENT, FRIENDLY, AND NO MILITARY

Meeting important people in a third world country

By Jack Ewing

When our family came here in 1970, Costa Rica was much smaller than it is today. At that time, the population was less than two million. I began to realize how small it was one day when I went to the bank with the company lawyer, Don Antonio Cruz, who was also a former justice on the Supreme Court of Costa Rica. I followed as Don Antonio led the way through the bank toward the office of the gentleman we had come to see. Before we got there, he stopped at another desk and greeted and chatted warmly with the two men seated there. Don Antonio turned to me and said, “Jack, I would like you to meet a couple of friends”. After introducing the official behind the desk, whose name I have forgotten, he turned to the man seated right next to us, smiled, and said, “This is Daniel Oduber, who will be the next president of Costa Rica”. Don Antonio chuckled loudly and patted Daniel on the shoulder. I couldn’t believe it. I had lived 27 years in the United States and had never seen a president or a Supreme Court Judge in person. I had been in Costa Rica for four months and was standing beside a former judge while shaking hands with a candidate for President of Costa Rica. That candidate, Daniel Oduber, was elected to a four-year term in 1974.

One afternoon, Diane came home from a luncheon with the Women’s Club of Costa Rica. She had a big smile plastered on her face. “Guess what”, she blurted out, “I was elected president of the women’s club, and at lunch, Doña Karen sat to my right. You know who I mean? Doña Karen Olsen, the first lady of Costa Rica, the wife of President Figueres”. I was stunned. All I could say was “Wow”!!

A couple of years later, I witnessed another example of how small Costa Rica was. One afternoon, I was at the big old hacienda house, “La Casona”, at Hacienda Barú when a Land Rover turned off the road and drove down the lane to the house. I walked outside to see who had arrived. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I recognized the man who stepped out of the driver’s side of the car. He was José Figueres Ferrer, affectionately known as Don Pepe, three time president of Costa Rica, leader of the forces that won the 1948 revolution, and who later abolished the Costa Rica armed forces. He said he was working on a reforestation project nearby and wanted to meet the neighbors. We had a friendly chat over coffee and cookies. Later, I came to learn that in those days, most presidents of Costa Rica got out of their offices and visited the people in every corner of the country.

After that memorable afternoon, I had the great honor of shaking hands with eight more presidents and one ex-president. They were: Mario Echandi Jiménez, Rodrigo Carazo Odio, Luis Alberto Monge, Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier, José María Figueres Olsen (Don Pepe’s and doña Karen’s son), Rafael Ángel Rodríguez, Abel Pacheco Esprieilla, Laura Chinchilla Miranda, and Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera. Costa Rica had been a small Third World country where everyone knew everyone else, but it was growing and becoming part of the developing world. The population was close to five million. The presidents were busier than before and didn’t have time to get out and meet the people in the rural areas.

Oscar Arias Sánchez, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was one of Costa Rica’s best-known presidents. I never had the opportunity to shake hands with him, but his brother, Rodrigo, was the lawyer for Hacienda Barú in the 70s and 80s, and I met with him often.

Everyone in our family also met and dined with the former dictator of Panama, General Manuel Noriega. He came to San Isidro for the stock show, and we were invited to join the group that dined with him.

On a different occasion, Diane’s flight to the USA was diverted to Managua, Nicaragua, where Violeta Chamorro, the duly elected president of the country, boarded the plane. As they were closing the doors, there was a commotion outside. They opened the doors, and Daniel Ortega, former dictator of the country, boarded along with his brother Humberto. The social atmosphere on the plane was tense, but Doña Violeta handled the situation quite well. She let the Ortegas have her seats in first class while she visited all the passengers in economy. She told everyone not to worry, just to remain calm. Diane had the great pleasure and honor of meeting her and chatting briefly.

Costa Rica is still independent, friendly, and has no military. The population is almost three times bigger than when our family moved here. I honestly liked it better when it was part of the Third World.

Jack is currently president of two environmental organizations, ASANA (Frends of Nature of the Central & South Pacific) and FUNDANTA (Foundation for the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor). A natural–born storyteller, Jack’s articles have appeared regularly in Costa Rica publications, and he is author of several books, Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate and Where Tapirs and Jaguars once Roamed: Ever–Evolving Costa Rica. His latest book is titled Monkeys Are Made of Mangos.