complete a rail stop. By 1934, stone spheres were discovered while clearing away forests for developing plantations.

On March 12, 1948, the 44-day Costa Rican Civil War erupted in the wake of a disputed presidential election. A year later, due to both the civil war and having only enough resources to choose between the military and education, Costa Rica's constitution was amended to abolish the conutry's military to prevent the tragedy from ever happening again. However, it was allowed to temporarily organize armed forces for national defense based on inter-American treaties, though it has not once ever raised an army since the amendment passed. A fortress located on Los Cantos near Mount Irazu was a reminder of the civil war, with others involving buildings containing bullet holes. Nicaragua alsoattempted to invade Costa Rica twice, but both times it was resoved diplomatically under the Organization of American States (OAS) auspices.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union, via the KGB, attempted to garner influence over Central America, although the CIA pushed them back repeatedly. The Costa Rican government eventually attempted to create a pumped storage power plant on Irazu to tap into its crater lake, but it was cancelled due to it not having enough to sustain its needs. In 1970, the president at the time, José Figueres Ferrer, allowed for various controversial aspects to run throughout Costa Rica, including allowing foreign entities to mine their lands, causing the populace to throw stones at parliament. Because of these and his pro-American policies, the populace also speculated that he