ABSTRACT
Most of the Central American countries would exit the period not very far down the political development road from where they had entered it, but the trip would be turbulent for all except Costa Rica. In the Caribbean the Trujillo Era would finally end in the Dominican Republic after the dictator's assassination in 1961, but most of the rest of the period had his chief disciple as its dominating figure. Authoritarian rule was the norm for the Central American countries, but its pattern varied, leading them to diverging exits from the period. Only Costa Rica could feel smugly superior throughout. The 1954 ouster of the leftist government of Jacobo Arbenz in many ways took the country back toward the pre-1944 era. The coup that overthrew the lackluster government of Lieutenant Colonel Jose Maria Lemos in October 1960 involved a number of collaborators of his predecessor and erstwhile mentor, 1948-1955 strongman Oscar Osorio.
