Opening of routes to the North 1820-1860: The San Juan river basin and the National War

Abstract

The purpose of the analysis is on how new routes to the northern region of Costa Rica reflected national and Central American political and economic interests in the mid XIX century. A specific contribution was a historical and locational reconstruction of the routes to the north, in response to the said interests. Sources utilized included printed works, documents, maps and newspapers. Costa Rica’s position on the Central American Isthmus, facilitated its participation in world commerce, but its growth made it necessary to explore new routes through the Sarapiquí and San Carlos rivers, to the port of San Juan Norte on the Caribbean. These routes enabled the country to maintain its sovereignty during the Guerra Nacional, by controlling the San Juan river and Lake Nicaragua, crucial to the defeat of the filibusters occupying Nicaragua, and valuable while negotiating the boundary treaty with Nicaragua. Finally, these roads were fundamental to the colonization of the northern region decades later.