The video below, “Calling on Costa Rica”, was produced by Metro Golden Mayer and narrated by James A. FitzPatrick, and it showcases the Costa Rica of 70 years ago, the Costa Rica of 1947.

Back in 1947 things were very different in Costa Rica, the video even mentions the country had some of the best roads! Imagine that!

But behind the beauty and apparent calm that is shown in the video, the country was also going through some convulse political times, the population was divided into two groups, the followers of Dr. Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia who was president of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944 and the communist group, known as “calderonistas” and “calderocomunistas”, and the Opposition with the figure of Otilio Ulate as their leader and the support of José Figueres Ferrer. The President back then was Teodoro Picado who actually reached the presidency with the support of Calderon and the communist group.

Elections were to be held in 1948 and there were talks about possible fraud (there had also been suspicions of fraud in the election process of 1944 so the conflict had been building for years) which caused several episodes of violence throughout 1947 and ended up with the Civil War of 1948 which lasted only 44 days.

This was the Costa Rica of 1947! Many things have changed and some remain the same. Enjoy the video!

This is the synopsis of the short documentary as it appears in IMDb:

“American filibuster William Walker, with the help of Brighams, appointed himself dictator of Nicaragua, then attempted the same of Costa Rica, but was defeated and shot, for which the US paid Costa Rica an indemnity of $26,704. Costa Rica is now dedicated to improve the lives of its working citizens. This travelogue of Costa Rica, the second smallest of the American republics and which was settled by Spanish farmers, starts at San Jose Airport, a major stopover point for travelers heading north-south within the Americas. Transportation is key within the country, boasting among the best roads in the world. San Jose itself is the capital, a small city of about 70,000, with many recreational areas in its suburbs. Heading out of the city, we come to an orchid farm, there being said to be more varieties of the plant in Costa Rica than anywhere else in the world. Next, we move to the volcanic mountains, the range within Costa Rica which contains the largest crater in the world. We then move to the farmland, with coffee and bananas being the primary agricultural export crops”.