Each country has its characteristics, culture, values and its characters in history, its heroes who left indelible marks.
Costa Rica has many, and among them stands out Colonel Nicolás Aguilar Murillo, that is why every September 10th, the country pays homage to him.
Declared a National Hero by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica in 1892 and ratified as such on September 30, 2013.
Aguilar Murillo, was a prominent military officer, who was born on September 10, 1934, in Barva de Heredia. Son of exemplary parents, Agustín Aguilar and María Murillo.
From a very young age he joined the Army of Costa Rica. It is worth mentioning that within the Army he reached the rank of colonel.
Among other achievements, his participation in the National Campaign of 1856-1857 against the filibusters of William Walker, in the Battles of La Virgen and San Carlos, he fought with numerical inferiority in men, nonetheless obtaining victory against the enemy.
One heroic deed always remembered was in the Battle of La Trinidad (year 1856), where he single handily recovered a cannon that was in enemy hands, thus saving many Costa Rican comrades lives.
Characteristic of bravery and courage in war, both in 1856, in 1892, during the government of Rafael Yglesias Castro, where he was declared a National Hero, which is why he received a medal and a pension of 60 pesos in his favor.
This declaration as a hero was not completed by law, so the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica proceeded to ratify it in 2013, taking into account his date of birth.
It turns out that after having participated in the National Campaign, he went to his hometown of Barva, where he dedicated himself to agriculture, where he lived modestly until his death in 1898.
It is worth mentioning that in 2019, as a joint initiative of the Government of the Republic, the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), the Ministry of Culture and Youth (MCJ) and the Municipality of Barva held a contest for national artists, to present their design proposals for a monument in homage to Colonel Nicolás Aguilar Murillo.
