The dream of the United Provinces of Central America on the eve of the centenary of Independence. The Conference of San Jose, Costa Rica, December 1920 -January 1921

Abstract

The dream to create the Central American Federation made the five members of the historical Central America organize meetings by 1921. This article discusses these efforts. The first section describes how these efforts were capitalized by local-national interests. In the process of organizing politically and economically the Isthmus, the need for international arbitration, trade organization and design of a policy of non-interference in domestic affairs of neighboring countries was established. Also, the political interference of the U.S. is analyzed through the initiative of the "Central American Peace Conference" (1904). The second section discusses the Pact of San José, developed in the framework of the Centennial of Independence. The demand for greater citizen participation and the need to strengthen the public sphere is also studied. Finally, I study the union movement revival during the negotiations of the Pact of San Jose and the interest of Costa Rica to renegotiate the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty. Throughout the article the role of workers is outlined in a process that ended in the celebration of the centennial of the Independence of Central America and the design of a Federal Constitution in 1921.