Juan Rafael Mora
| Juan Rafael Mora | |
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| President of Costa Rica | |
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In office November 26, 1849 – August 14, 1859 |
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| Preceded by | Miguel Mora Porras |
| Succeeded by | José María Montealegre |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 18, 1814 San José |
| Died | September 30, 1860 (aged 46) Puntarenas |
Juan Rafael Mora Porras (8 February 1814, San José, Costa Rica – 30 September 1860) was President of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859.
He first assumed the presidency following the resignation of his younger brother, Miguel Mora Porras, and was subsequently reelected in 1853 and 1859.
His administration modified the constitution, increasing the requirements to hold citizenship. A high yearly income was required to be a citizen; this left the majority of the population without the right to vote or run for office. The previous electoral system required citizens to be male, to be born in the country, and to be of age to have electoral rights.
This dramatic change coincided with the privatization of the commons; the landless peasants who depended on the commons were left helpless since they had no political representation and no means of achieving it given the changes in the new constitution.
Mora performed a series of military reforms that not only increased the size of the army to 9000 able men, but also sought to professionalize it. To this end he hired Polish and French military advisers and purchased state-of-the-art equipment from Great Britain.
In 1856 he led his country's forces in Central America's war against William Walker and his filibuster regime in Nicaragua.
For Costa Rican historiography the war is divided into three parts: The First Campaign (March–April 1856), The Second Campaign or Transit Campaign (October 1856–May 1857), and The Third Campaign (August–December 1857)
Mora, along with Bishop Anselmo Llorente had previously given a series of speeches to arouse the people preparing for the upcoming war. The speeches emphasized the threat posed by the Protestant filibusters to the country's Catholic identity.
The president gave his brother José Joaquín Mora Porras the supreme command of the army. Three battles were fought during the First Campaign: Santa Rosa, Sardinal and Rivas; these series of battles managed to stop Walker's invasion to Guanacaste—at the time known as "Moracia" in the president's honour.
During the Rivas Battle Cholera spread out on both filibuster and Costa Rican forces. Costa Ricans under the impression that cholera was acquired on "ill-aired" locations fled from Rivas taking the water-borne disease into the country causing the death of 10% of the population.
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