The Central America early Cold War: Nathaniel P. Davis, the United States, and the Costa Rica’s Civil War of 1948

Abstract

This essay analyzes the way Nathaniel P. Davis, Ambassador to San Jose, Costa Rica, wrote about the Costa Rica’s Civil War of 1948 in his personal diary. This primary source, unconsidered by other researchers, is very important since it narrates several facts that took place during the war. Using other sources, this paper reconstructs Davis’s actions as a diplomatic, his viewpoints on the war, and his procedures to make a peace agreement to stop it. Davis’s personal diary also works as a source to revisit other historical narratives on the Costa Rican Civil war of 1948. My work insists on presenting this source as a new tool to understand this fundamental event in Costa Rica’s modern history.