José María Cañas

Who was José María Cañas?

José María Cañas Escamilla was a Costa Rican military figure, born in Suchitoto, El Salvador.

He moved to Costa Rica in 1842 along with General Francisco Morazán, where he married Guadalupe Mora Porras, sister of President Juan Rafael Mora Porras.

He was named Secretary of War during the Mora Porras presidency. As a general, he commandeered the Costa Rican Army during the third and most important part of the campaign against filibuster William Walker. He was known as an affable and kind person amongst his troops.

Cañas was also responsible for the development of Costa Rica's Pacific Ocean port, Puntarenas, where he served as commander for several years. Cañas imported Chinese laborers to Puntarenas, employing many of them as laborers on his estates. A benevolent patron to these workers, Cañas's memory is, to this day, held in high remark by many of their descendants. Years after Cañas's death, his children were still well received in Puntarenas by members of the thriving Chinese-Costa Rican community.

In representation of Costa Rica he signed the Cañas-Jerez Treaty, the Cañas-Martínez Treaty and the Cañas-Jerez Treaty that dealt with the demarcation of the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.