THE SAINTS OF PROGRESS THE SAINTS OF PROGRESS A History of Coffee, Migration, and Costa Rican National Identity CARMEN KORDICK The University of Ala bama Press Tuscaloosa The University of Ala bama Press Tuscaloosa, Ala bama 35487- 0380 uapress.ua.edu Copyright © 2019 by the University of Ala bama Press All rights reserved. Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed to the University of Ala bama Press. Typeface: Minion and Arial Cover image: Civic parade in San Marcos de Tarrazú, 1960s; courtesy of Juan Mora Cover design: David Nees Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kordick, Carmen, 1980– author. Title: The saints of progress : a history of coffee, migration, and Costa Rican national identity / Carmen Kordick. Description: Tuscaloosa : The University of Alabama Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018021215| ISBN 9780817320027 (cloth) | ISBN 9780817392093 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Costa Rica—History. | Coffee industry—Political aspects— Costa Rica. Classification: LCC F1546 .K67 2019 | DDC 972.86—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021215 For Alexandra and Nidia Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xvii Introduction. Tarrazú: A Place, a Coffee, and a People 1 1. Tarrazú’s Founding and Settlement 17 2. Coffee, Downward Mobility, and Po liti cal Power in Tarrazú 31 3. Maintaining the Order: Gender, Class, State Authority, and Violence 56 4. Revolt in Tarrazú 79 5. The Civil War and Its Consequences 106 6. Migration and Shifting Class, Racial, and National Identities 135 7. National Belonging and Exclusion beyond Costa Rica’s Borders 153 Conclusion. Costa Rica’s Cold War Exceptionalism 178 Notes 187 Glossary 243 Bibliography 247 Index 261 Illustrations MAPS Map of Costa Rica xxi Map of Tarrazú xxi Map of New Jersey communities with Costa Rican immigrant populations xxii FIGURES I.1. Santa María de Dota from the road linking the Inter-Ameri can Highway to Tarrazú, 2008 2 I.2. San Marcos de Tarrazú’s church, as viewed from the outskirts of town, 2008 11 1.1. San Marcos de Tarrazú’s church under construction, early twentieth century 27 2.1. Tobías Umaña Jiménez, his son Humberto Umaña Parra, and one of Umaña’s foremen, ca. early 1950s 37 2.2. La Tribuna po liti cal cartoon, May 1, 1942 46 2.3. Juan Rafael Umaña Jiménez with his children, ca. late 1910s or early 1920s 48 2.4. Women sorting coffee beans at Tobías Umaña Jiménez’s beneficio, the cafetalera, late 1950s 49 2.5. Young women wearing their Sunday best near San Marcos’s central plaza, early 1950s 50 3.1. Men and boys standing in front of the entrance of a San Marcos de Tarrazú cantina, 1920s 63