History of San Vito

This Italian immigration is a typical example of targeted agricultural colonization, which is similar in many respects to what occurred elsewhere in Latin America . The immigrant Europeans came to the aid of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM).

Vito Sansoneti (1916-1999 †) sailor by profession, was the founder of the colonizing company which he named Italian Society of Agricultural Settlement (SICA), and was in charge of negotiations with the Costa Rican authorities, represented by the Institute of Land and Colonization (ITCO). His brother the lawyer Ugo Sansonetti, lived in San Vito serving as leader and company executive in the region.

The sector was hitherto known only as Coto Brus, toponymy of indigenous origin. At that time, the country was very interested in expanding new agricultural frontiers to develop and diversify the economy, and to encourage foreign investment with soft bank loans and transfer of land.

The SICA, had an initial capital of $ 800,000 was delivered later by selling shares and various loans Italian, Costa Rican and North American origin. The government of Costa Rica to the SICA initiative, offered 10,000 acres of land, and in 1951 the contract was signed. The SICA, this time promised to install 250 families of which 20% would be Costa Rican. The period 1952-1964 was characterized by the establishment and consolidation of the colony.