The Guatemalan Claim and Decolonization

Abstract

The territory that became known as Belize was an undifferentiated part of the Caribbean coast of Central America that was considered subject to Spanish sovereignty, by virtue of the Papal Bull of 1493. In 1821, Central America declared formal independence from Spain, and in 1823 an assembly in Guatemala City proclaimed the United Provinces of Central America, made up of the territories that had formed part of the Kingdom or Captaincy General of Guatemala (except Chiapas, which became part of Mexico). In 1838/1839 this federation broke up into the countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.¹ Guatemala asserts that it then inherited sovereignty over Belize, which it alleges had been considered part of the Petén and/or Verapaz regions of Guatemala.