Although there is no historical question as to the events of April 11, 1856 during the Battle of Rivas in Nicaragua, there are conspiracy theorists and historical revisionists who claim that the brave Juan Santamaria, National Hero of Costa Rica, did not exist. We start hearing from these negationists each year around late March; they tend to invade online social networks and other media platforms until they are hushed by historians.

The conspiracy theory usually presents the following elements:

1. Written accounts of the Battle of Rivas were compiled by war correspondents paid by the government, and they do not mention Juan Santamaria.
2. In 1857, army chaplain Francisco Calvo recorded the death among his ranks of a young man named Juan Santamaria from Alajuela (a true cradle of heroes in Costa Rica), who died from cholera.
3. Esteemed historian Rafael Obregon Loria indicated that Juan Santamaria torched the farmhouse but did not pass away until after the enemy retreated.
4. An 1891 inquest ordered by the Secretary of War in Costa Rica determined that not all veterans remembered seeing Juan Santamaria torch the farmhouse, but they all remember seeing him resolutely advance with torch in hand towards the farmhouse before being shot multiple times.

In late 1857, Manuela Carvajal -mother of the young soldier from Alajuela who would become Costa Rica’s National Hero, petitioned the government of President Juan Rafael Mora for benefits that she felt entitled to receive as the grieving mother of Juan Santamaria. In her petition, Ms. Carvajal wrote what she had learned from soldiers returning from battle: That her son volunteered to torch the farmhouse where United States citizen William Walker and his band of filibusterers were holed up, and that he was successful in his brave endeavor but was killed in action.

It only took the government of President Mora a few days to approve Ms. Carvajal’s petition, which is considered an extraordinarily short time. This also fuels the fire in the minds of conspiracy theorists who claim that liberal politicians in Costa Rica at the time may have created a hero to underscore the significance of the War Campaign of 1856, which effectively stopped the U.S. filibusterers from taking over Central America.

One of the best reports on the veracity of Juan Santamaria as a hero was written by Professor Ivan Molina Jimenez of the University of Costa Rica and published by La Nacion in 2009. Professor Molina traces the origin of Juan Santamaria doubters back to 1887, and the renewed historical focus on the geopolitical importance of the entire War Campaign of 1856 has brought out the deniers and haters in force to the 21^st century.

As to the four points of denial above, Professor Molina has gone way back into historical records and made the following findings:

1. In 1856, war correspondents were instructed to only record the actions of officers, not of lowly enlisted men who were essentially fodder.
2. Surgeon Rafael Calderon Munoz confirmed with army chaplain Calvo that the soldier who died from cholera was not the hero of the Battle of Rivas. Census records indicate five Juan Santamarias from Alajuela living during that time, but only one was recorded as being killed in action at the Battle of Rivas.
3. Oral history explains that Juan Santamaria may have lived a few hours after being wounded, long enough to learn that William Walker and his accomplices were flushed out like roaches.
4. The 1891 inquest revealed that Juan Santamaria may have been mortally wounded with torch in hand and that subsequent suppressive fire may have been needed for fellow Tico soldiers to launch multiple torching attacks.

In the end, there is enough historical evidence to support that Juan Santamaria, Alajuela’s favorite son and National Hero of Costa Rica, volunteered for the mission that killed him. He may not have made it to the farmhouse, or he may have been shot with a pistol as he reached the outer walls. It does not really matter at this point, for we now know that Juan Santamaria’s sacrifice and the entire War Campaign of 1856 effectively put a stop to United States’ Manifest Destiny from being implemented in Central America. To learn more about this important legacy, please read our previous article on how The Sacrifice of Juan Santamaria Brought Positive Change to the Americas.