# The great Afro-Antillean migration  
At the end of the nineteenth century, new Afrodescendent immigrants were arriving in Central America from the Caribbean islands, particularly from Jamaica, enriching the region's cultural mosaic. Numerically, this was the largest migration in the region's recent history. Thousands of workers were brought in to build the infrastructure for the new export economies, including the Panama Canal, railroads and agricultural activities. These immigrants boosted the cultivation of cacao, abaca and banana - Central America was the largest banana producer in the world (Chomsky, 1996). Writers, nurses, teachers, priests, railway and telegraph operators and accountants also arrived, all of which enhanced the professional composition of the region's countries. As some of these immigrants returned to their countries of origin, they in turn further enriched the cultural dynamic of the Antilles. The immigrants' professional training and family connections, as well as their membership in the English-speaking world, facilitated their participation in international discussions connecting Central America, the Antilles and New York.  
In the case of Costa Rica, religious schools promoted British-style education. Among the religious congregations were the Baptist, Wesleyan, Anglican and Moravian churches as well as the Salvation Army. These religious institutions created networks that brought together a great number of Afro-Caribbean individuals within the Antilles and Caribbean Central America.