What made Costa Rica a democracy ? Coffee. The first plants were imported in 1808 from Jamaica. When Costa Rica was a federation , the first export was in 1820 , the vision of a man called Braulio Carrillo, chief of the state.  He offered free to all the farmers a small amount of coffee plants, and told them that the goverment would buy all the production, this created a free enterprise, and everyone had their own business,  unlike other countries in the area who had rich spanish immigants who created large farms. This is the base of the economy , and the number one reason why Costa Rica has held strong against socialist intruders. Interesting ?