NATIONAL HEROES

Juan Santamaria

Juan Santamaria was born in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Santamaria fought against the intervention of William Walker, who sought to take over the Central American countries in the name of the Southern Confederacy of the United States. In 1855 he even managed to take over Nicaragua and named himself "President" for a brief period of time. Costa Rica's president at the time, Juan Rafael Mora, gathered a small army of peasants to fight the invasion. Santamaria bravely burned the fort in which the confederates were seeking refuge, forcing them out where the army captured and executed Walker.