On April 4^th, 1885, the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movement formally inaugurated operations in Costa Rica. On this Holy Saturday, Red Cross staff and volunteers in Costa Rica would certainly like to take a moment to celebrate their 130^th anniversary of providing a most noble service in our country; alas, they are very busy rendering emergency medical service to residents and visitors enjoying their days off ahead of Easter.

In the early hours of April 4^th, 2015, the Red Cross assembled a search party to locate missing hikers and campers in the Braulio Carrillo National Park, a thickly wooded nature preserve that challenges even the most experienced land navigators in Costa Rica. The rescuers entered the mountainous terrain at first light, but they shared a brief moment to remember the historic anniversary of their organization before setting off to carry out their mission.

The Red Cross in Costa Rica began as a wartime aid organization in 1885, a time when a terrible dictatorship in Guatemala intended to expand its authoritarian regime across Central America. The President of Costa Rica at the time, Bernardo Soto Alfaro, believed that a terrible war was approaching since other armies in the region were ready to fight the invaders; thus, the President entered an executive order to establish a Red Cross to help the wounded in battle.

Thankfully, the Red Cross in Costa Rica did not see action at that time since the dictator was assassinated as he was crossing the border into El Salvador. In 1917, however, Costa Rica was briefly governed by a dictatorship that prompted civil discord and a spectacular attack on an armory located next to the Central Penitentiary, which today is the site of the Children’s Museum in San Jose.

There were 75 people wounded in that attack, which prompted a teacher who kept a nearby business to render immediate aid and organize volunteers to help him. Later that year, an association was created to support a peacetime Red Cross movement in Costa Rica, which was eventually recognized by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement a few years later.

It is important to note that although the Red Cross is a professional rescue and emergency services organization in Costa Rica, unpaid volunteers still make up a significant portion of their rescue workforce.