Abstract

RODRIGUEZ ALVAREZ, Cristofer. The Costa Rican External Debt Regime Vis-À-Vis US Financial Capital (1901-1911). Diálogos rev. electr. hist [online]. 2024, vol.25, n.2, pp.97-135. ISSN 1409-469X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/dre.v25i2.59039.

In early 20th century, the Costa Rica State suspended the external debt service because of a crisis in the coffee international price. This default persisted for ten years; during that time, New York bankers made two proposals to convert and consolidate the external debt with the internal debt. Both proposals failed. This article examines those negotiations to understand how the Costa Rica’s external debt regime behaved. I affirm that, at a first level of negotiations, Costa Rica’s State agreed to contract US financial capital under asymmetrical conditions with the US bankers deciding all the terms of the agreement. However, at the second level of negotiations, contracts validity depended on local ratification, which they did not get due to the high political cost of the proposals, political opposition pressure, and legislative mechanisms limiting borrowing policy.

Keywords : Public debt; Costa Rica; Case studies; Economic history; Finance.

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