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The Costa Ricans loved and respected President John F. Kennedy with all of their hearts! On March 19, 1963 President JFK, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and the Presidential entourage arrived to Costa Rica for his last visit here, to meet with the Presidents of 6 other countries in Latin America for a Central American conference. This was a historical day in Costa Rica because Mr. Kennedy received a huge turnout of Costa Ricans, more than any other Costa Rican event in our history. During the trip, JFK met with a local Little League baseball team and signed baseballs for some of the youngsters on March 19. I am proud to say that I personally shook the hand of this respected president during his trip here! I was only 3 years old at the time, but I do remember him at the Tivives Beach, which is close to Caldera in the City of Esparza. My Dad and I traveled to that beach from Esparza by horseback (in March of 1963). I saw a group of men fishing and John F. Kennedy was one of these guys (nobody else was at the beach that day, but these men), and I wandered away from my Dad to go see them. After Mr. Kennedy shook my hand, I remember him saying to me in Spanish these words, "What a cute little boy, what is your name?" Then JFK said to me, "You are going to be a good American citizen, we will make America a beautiful place to live."

The following day, after their 2-day summit, President Kennedy and the other 6 Presidents signed a economic and political declaration concerning Cuba and the Soviet aggression in the Western Hemisphere. This was the beginning of the Alliance for Progress and the State of Political Democracy in Latin America. Mr. Kennedy went back to Washington with great confidence and said, "We will continue to live in a hemisphere of independent, firm and faithful friends."

Costa Rica will ALWAYS be a faithful friend of John F. Kennedy. He was assassinated on November 22, 1963, only 8 months after his last trip to Costa Rica, and I remember all of my family and neighbors crying and saying he was a very good man, and they were very devastated. Most of the Costa Ricans didn't work for 2 or 3 days while mourning for John F. Kennedy. My Dad called Mr. Kennedy "Our Father". I might have only been 3 years old, but I will always have a special place in my heart for John F. Kennedy, as well as will all of Costa Rica!!