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It is interesting to know that Costa Rica has achieved a number of major accomplishments of universal significance thanks to the vision of some of its men. For instance,
In 1869, Lic. Jesús Jiménez Zamora established the principle of state-sponsored, compulsory, and free-of-charge education.
In 1871, General Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez enacted the Constitution of 1871 that would be valid until 1948. This constitution abolished the death penalty.
In 1943, Dr. Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia granted the workers' rights, reopened the University of Costa Rica, and created the social security system which has been universalized today.
In 1949, José Figueres Ferrer, a humanist and great Costa Rican thinker, was the leader of the 1948 Civil War. As President of the "Pounder's Board of the Second Republic," he took the most important step toward the consolidation of Costa Rican democracy by abolishing the army, and declaring that the quarters be culture centres.
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