The Social Guarantees generated great popular support but also brought the ire and intense opposition of the most powerful classes including the coffee oligarchy, the creole aristocracy, and some intellectual sectors. It also raised distrust on the part of the
US government that disapproved of Calderon's relationship with
communism. A series of measures taken by the Calderonista government swelled the ranks of the opposition, especially the persecution of Germans and
Italians during and after
World War II, including the confiscation of property and their detention in concentration camps after Costa Rica declared war on the
Third Reich. Accusations of electoral fraud, corruption, and repression of political and social opponents strengthened that opposition. The Victory Bloc nominated Calderón for the second time and the opposition supported Ulate, with both sides accused of widespread electoral fraud. When no candidate earned the required number of votes to form a government, the stage was set for civil war. The opposition camp was led by
José Figueres, commander of the National Liberation Army. Key allies for Figueres were the
Caribbean Legion and Frank Marshall, the leader of the
anti-communist forces with dual Costa Rican and German citizenship whose family had been persecuted by Calderón. That coalition prevailed in the civil war and Calderonismo was defeated. Calderón escaped into exile in
Nicaragua, then to
Mexico where Mora Valverde had also emigrated. Mora led the Workers, Peasants and Intellectuals Bloc, the future
Communist Party of Costa Rica. Before the civil war had concluded, Mora and Figueres negotiated the Pact of Ochomogo and the Pact of the Embassy of Mexico. On behalf of the communists, Mora committed to surrender; in return, Figueres promised not to revert the hard-won Social Guarantees. This seemed reasonable since Figueres himself, who exercised the de facto presidency before passing power to Otilio Ulate, made a series of socialist and progressive reforms. These included the creation of the
Costa Rican Institute of Electricity,
women's suffrage, the end of
racial segregation (before 48 blacks could not leave certain areas or vote), the nationalization of the country's bank, and the abolition of the army. That is why it is generally accepted in Costa Rican historiography that the four great social reformers of the country were Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, Manuel Mora Valverde, José Figueres Ferrer and Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez. The first three created their own ideologies of transcendence throughout history such as
Calderonismo,
Figuerismo and communismo a la tica (tico-style communism). Figueres said he was visited by several representatives of the most conservative business, including Ricardo Castro Beeche, Francisco Jiménez Ortiz (shareholder of the Nation Group), Fernando Lara Bustamante, and Sergio Carballo who urged him to roll back the Social Guarantees and abolish the Labor Code and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. In return, they offered him the presidency of the country and promised to place the Great Capital and the press at his service. Figueres declined indignantly and reported it to President Ulate. ==Outcome==