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 Belize |  Spain |
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Belize has an embassy and honorary consulates in Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. [1] Spain has a non-resident embassy [2] for Belize in Guatemala, and an honorary consulate in Belize City. [3] [4]
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Belize | Spain |
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Belize has an embassy and honorary consulates in Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. [1] Spain has a non-resident embassy [2] for Belize in Guatemala, and an honorary consulate in Belize City. [3] [4]
In the year 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed, claiming that the entire west of New World was for Spain, including the current Belize. Later, in the mid-16th century, the Spanish conquerors explored that territory, declaring it a Spanish colony [5] and being incorporated into the General Captaincy of Guatemala on December 27, 1527, when it was founded. [6] In this way it is integrated, in the second half of that century, to the Government of Yucatan, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. [7] Thus, although in 1530 the conqueror Francisco de Montejo, after attacking the Nachankan Maya and Belize, failed in his attempt to subject the Maya to Spanish rule, [8] The territory remained under Spanish power. Thus, it is in 1544 when the first written documents about the Spanish presence in Belize are registered. These first settlers settled in the Mayan city of Lamanai, a city in which a Spanish colonial church was built in 1570, being this city the one that absorbed major European influences in Belize. [9] For their part, the first Spanish missionaries in Belize arrived in the territory in 1550 and evangelized the population of the Choles area (a linguistic group belonging to the ethnic group of K'ekchi), reaching the Bay of Amatique (in the current Province of the Verapaz, in the southern half of present-day Belize). [6]
However, there were few Spaniards who settled there, due to the lack of resources for them important, such as gold, and the strong defense of the Mayan people regarding the Peninsula of Yucatan. [5] Thus, Spanish settlers residing in Belize frequently fought against the Maya, who, in addition, were affected by slavery and the diseases carried by the Spaniards. [9]
However, after the mid-sixteenth century, there is little evidence of Spanish explorations in Belize, although not evangelization: in 1618 the Pucté region was evangelized, in the north of present-day Belize, and, in 1621, the region was of the Mopanes and Tipúes, in the central part of the territory. [6]
The only exception of Spanish explorations in Belize after the mid-16th century is found on a trip made by a Dominican father, Fray José Delgado, in 1677. Delgado traveled throughout Belize towards the municipality of Bacalar, in the Mexican state Quintana Roo. However, he could not continue on his way because, before reaching the Mexican municipality, he was captured and stripped by some Englishmen in some area near the Texoc River - probably the current Mullins River. [10]
On the other hand, between 1638 and 1695, the Mayans residing in Tipu enjoyed autonomy from Spanish rule. But in 1696, Spanish soldiers used Tipu as a base from which the area would be pacified and missionary activities would be supported. In 1697 the Spaniards conquered Itzá, and in 1707, the Spaniards forcibly resettled the inhabitants of Tipu in an area close to Lake Petén Itzá. [11]
In 1717, after the British settlement in Belize between the 16th and 17th centuries and in order to remove foreigners from the area, the army led by Marshal Antonio Figueroa and Silva Lazo, governor of the Yucatan Peninsula, expelled the English of Rio Belize. [6] [12] Even so, over time, the British ended up returning, so this expedition developed a series of Spanish raids to expel them at various times.
Later, on January 20, 1783, Great Britain and Spain signed the peace and shortly thereafter signed the Treaty of Versailles, in which Spain ceded to Britain a small part of the current Belize, about 1,482 km [12] - or 4,804-, located between the rivers Hondo and Belize. [6] In addition, due to the request of British settlers to obtain more territory to have a greater area of action, since the territory assigned to them was very limited, the London Convention of 1786 by which Spain gave him another 1,883 km of Belize (reaching the Sibún River or Laguna Manate, south of Belize River).
However, sometime between 1786 and 1796, a Spanish official who visited the Yucatan to report on Baymen's activities indicated that the Baymen were dangerously expanding their borders to cut the dye stick also in Campeche , near a city of Spanish population. Therefore, Spain issued orders for the immediate and effective expulsion of settlers who occupied Belize. This triggered a war between Great Britain and Spain on the coast of Belize in September 1798, a war that was called The Battle of St. George's Cay and ended with the Spanish defeat. Because of that, the British were able to stay in Belizean territory - and throughout the continental part of Central America-, being able to freely exercise their dominance in the area, although the territory remained, officially, Spanish. [12]
According to the censuses of 2000 of Belize, of the 322,000 people residing in that country, the descendants of Spaniards constitute 15% of the population. Most of them still live in Corozal and Orange Walk Town, some of the places where their ancestors settled when they emigrated to Belize from Yucatán in the 1840s. In addition, due to Hispanic-American (basically Central American) immigration, approximately 46% of the Belizean population has Spanish as their mother tongue. [13]
Bilateral relations can be described as excellent without significant disputes. There is a symbolic Spanish business presence in Belize and no economic or political dispute of any kind has been detected between the two countries. [14]
Economic and commercial relations are of limited importance. Spain ranks as the fourth European trading partner in Belize. Some Spanish companies have carried out operations in the country in the education, health and water and sanitation sector. The investments of Belize in Spain in the real estate and hospitality sector stand out. [15]
Cooperation relations with Belize began in November 2001, the date on which the [Scientific and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Belize and the Government of the Kingdom of Spain was signed in Belmopan.
During the years 2000 and 2001 Spanish cooperation with Belize focused on humanitarian aid worth 60,101.00 Euros each year, to alleviate the effects of Hurricanes Keith in the year 2000 and Iris in the year 2001.
On October 8, 2002, the signing of the I Joint Belize-Spain Cooperation Commission was carried out in Belize City, under the aforementioned Agreement. [16]
The Maya are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical region. Today they inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. "Maya" is a modern collective term for the peoples of the region; however, the term was not historically used by the indigenous populations themselves. There was no common sense of identity or political unity among the distinct populations, societies and ethnic groups because they each had their own particular traditions, cultures and historical identity.
The Battle of St. George's Caye was a military engagement that lasted from 3 to 10 September 1798, off the coast of British Honduras. However, the name is typically reserved for the final battle that occurred on 10 September.
The Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute is an unresolved territorial dispute between the states of Belize and Guatemala, neighbours in Central America. During the late 1600s and throughout the 1700s, Britain and Spain signed several treaties regarding territories in the Americas. Both nations agreed that the territory of modern-day Belize was under Spanish sovereignty, but English settlers could use the land, in specific areas and for specific purposes. However, the area was never fully under British or Spanish occupation at this time. When the Spanish Empire fell, Guatemala said that they inherited Spain's sovereign rights over the territory. Since independence, Guatemala has claimed, in whole or in part, the territory of Belize.
The Baymen were the earliest European settlers along the Bay of Honduras in what eventually became the colony of British Honduras.
Belize, on the east coast of Central America, southeast of Mexico, was inhabited by the indigenous peoples who fought off the Spaniards in an attempt to preserve their heritage and to avoid the fate of their neighbors who were conquered and under Spanish rule. While this was going on, British pirates would rob Spanish merchant ships and navigate through the shallow waters and small islands even going up river later to hide their bounty. The indigenous people of Belize did not resist the British like they did the Spanish. In the 17th century, however, the British settlement became a formal British crown colony from 1862 through 1964, where they first achieved self government and later in 1981 became an independent country recognized globally with all its territory intact. The British brought along with them slaves taken from Congo and Angola during the eighteenth century.
The History of Belize dates back thousands of years. The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BC to 1200 BC and flourished until about 1000 AD. Several Maya ruin sites, including Cahal Pech, Caracol, Lamanai, Lubaantun, Altun Ha, and Xunantunich reflect the advanced civilization and much denser population of that period. The first recorded European incursions in the region were made by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries in the 16th century. One attraction of the area was the availability of logwood, which also brought British settlers.
The Belize–Mexico border is an international border between Belize and Mexico. It is 250 km (160 mi) long and almost exclusively follows the course of the Hondo River. It separates Belize from the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
Grace Bank, formerly Barcadares, is an unincorporated hamlet 33 miles up the Belize River. It was the second settlement founded by the first English settlers of present-day Belize. It was settled in the 1650s, relocated in 1760, and resettled in 1853.
The Capture of Cayo Cocina was the result of a Spanish military operation on the 15 September 1779 against a British settlement on Saint George's Caye, just off the coast of present-day Belize, during the Anglo-Spanish War. The settlement was at the time the major British population center in the area, until Spanish forces from the Captaincy General of Guatemala attacked it.
Hispanic and Latin American Belizeans are Belizeans of full or partial Hispanic and Latin American descent. Currently, they comprise around 52.9% of Belize's population.
Belize and Mexico are both members of the Association of Caribbean States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Organization of American States and the United Nations.
The Chinamita or Tulumkis were a Mopan Maya people who occupied a territory in the eastern Petén Basin and western Belize between the Itza of Nojpetén, within the borders of modern Guatemala, and their allies at Tipuj, now in Belize. In the early 17th century, the Chinamita probably occupied a territory along the Mopan River south of the Yaxhá and Sacnab lakes in Petén, and in neighbouring portions of Belize. In 1698, after the fall of Nojpetén to the Spanish, the Itza told the Spanish that the Chinamita had territory nine days to the east of the Itza capital.
Belizean Spanish is the dialect of Spanish spoken in Belize. It is similar to Caribbean Spanish, Andalusian Spanish, and Canarian Spanish. While English is the only official language of Belize, Spanish is the common language of majority (62.8%), wherein 174,000 speak some variety of Spanish as a native language. Belizeans of Guatemalan, Honduran, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, and even Cuban descent may speak different dialects of Spanish, but since they grow up in Belize, they adopt the local accent.
Guyana–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. The embassy of Guyana in Belgium is accredited for Spain. The Spanish embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is accredited for Guyana, and Spain has an honorary consulate in Georgetown.
Haiti–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Haiti has an embassy in Madrid, and honorary consulates in Barcelona, Cádiz and Málaga. Spain has an embassy in Port-au-Prince.
Spain–Suriname relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. The embassy of Suriname in Brussels is accredited for Spain. The Spanish embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is accredited for Suriname and in addition Spain has an consulate honorary in Paramaribo.
Spain–Trinidad and Tobago relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Spain has an embassy in Port of Spain, which is also accredited for Spanish consulates in other small nations of the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago does not have embassies or consulates in Spain.
Cambodia and Spain share bilateral and diplomatic relations. Cambodia does not have embassy in Spain, but the embassy in Paris is accredited for this country. There is no diplomatic delegation from Spain in Cambodia. The Spanish Embassy is located in Bangkok, Thailand.
Nepal–Spain relations are the bilateral relations between Nepal and Spain. Nepal has an embassy in Madrid. Spain is accredited to Nepal from its embassy in New Delhi, India.
The Musul or Muzul Territory is thought to have been a Postclassic polity of the former Maya Lowlands, in present-day Belize. Little is currently known of the Territory, though it is presumed to have been subordinate to or formed part of the Dzuluinicob Province or the Mopan Territory.
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