LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating 193 years of Costa Rican Independ-
ence from Spain on September 15, 2014

WHEREAS, Pre-Columbian Costa Rica is where Mesoamerican and South Ameri-
can native cultures met; Columbus first reached Costa Rica in 1502; and
WHEREAS, Costa Rica was named with great optimism on part of the Span-
ish, expecting to soon be exporting gold, silver and minerals - though
it developed and remained an isolated agricultural zone; and
WHEREAS, Unlike many Spanish colonies, Costa Rican settlers developed
their land by their own means and largely without the use of indigenous
people as forced labor; this led to less economic outputs and future
inability to share in the prosperity like the rest of the Spanish colo-
nies - but left a lasting legacy of egalitarianism and an unmatched
index of local wealth; and
WHEREAS, Spanish settlers operated large farms in rich soils of Costa
Rica's hills yielding bananas and coffee - allowing these isolated inde-
pendent farmers to accumulate great and unaccounted wealth; and
WHEREAS, Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces on Septem-
ber 15, 1821, in a joint declaration of independence from Spain; after a
brief time in the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide, Costa Rica
became a state in the Federal Republic of Central America from 1823 to
1839; and
WHEREAS, Costa Rica has since enjoyed a legacy of great freedom and
equality, wealth and prosperity; and
WHEREAS, Many Costa Ricans have made New York their home, and this
Legislative Body is justly proud to thank the Costa Rican people for
their contributions to this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate 193 years of Costa Rican Independence from Spain on Septem-
ber 15, 2014.