DEMOCRACIA Y GUERRA FRÍA EN COSTA RICA: EL ANTICOMUNISMO EN LAS CAMPAÑAS ELECTORALES DE LOS AÑOS 1962 Y 1966.

Abstract

The article “reviews” in a critical manner and in the light of diverse sources, the theses on the early consolidation of the Costa Rican democratic system, by showing that, given the correlation of a series of external and internal factors, the constitutional order was noticeably threatened during the 1960s. Hence, the work constitutes an in-depth analysis of the effect of the abovementioned factors, stressing, among other points, the “immature” systems of the political parties, the anti-Communist discourse, the political violence as an alternative to gain access to power, and the impact of the Cold War and the Cuban Revolution in the Costa Rican political-electoral system, as well as the interrelations between these, aimed at proving that in the 1960s, the Costa Rican democracy was far from being considered a consolidated political system.