Public Forces of Costa Rica education and culture. Costa Rica maintains Police Guard forces. The museum "Museo Nacional de Costa Rica" was placed in the "Cuartel Bellavista" as a symbol of commitment to culture. In 1986, President Oscar Arias Sánchez declared December 1 as the "Día de la Abolición del Ejército" (Military abolition day) with Law #8115. Unlike its neighbors, Costa Rica has not endured a civil war since 1948. Costa Rica maintains small forces capable of law enforcement, but has no permanent standing army. In 1996, the Ministry of Public Security established the "Fuerza Pública" or Public Force, a gendarmarie which reorganized and eliminated
2010 Costa Rican general election become Costa Rica's first female president. With approximately 40% of the vote counted, Chinchilla was consistently surpassing the 40% threshold for victory in the first round, leading Solis by 47% to 24%, with third-placed candidate Otto Guevara trailing at 21.5%. Bruce M. Wilson and Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Cordero: "The general election in Costa Rica, February 2010". In Electoral Studies, Volume 30, Issue 1, March 2011, pages 231-234. 2010 Costa Rican general election Costa Rica held parliamentary and presidential elections on 7 February 2010. The ruling party before the election, the center-left National Liberation Party, put forward former Vice-President Laura Chinchilla as