COUNTERACT THE INJUSTICE

Counteract the Injustice

Counteract the Injustice

Central America is a small region that links North and South America, bordering Mexico to the north and Colombia to the south. Its seven countries—Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama—constitute a very rich mixture of history, land, and cultures. This history, however, has been marked by high levels of violence and today, with notable exceptions, Central American societies are still characterized by extreme levels of social inequality, poverty, and injustice. The 20th century has seen left-wing revolutionary movements develop in some Central American countries to counteract the worst excesses of political repression with little long-lasting effect.

Although the region currently known as Central America has been inhabited for thousands of years, little is known of the cultures that dominated the area with exception perhaps of the Maya civilization. The Maya ruled in parts of current Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico. Although this civilization had begun to decline from the 14th century onward, the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in the 16th century marked the beginning of exploitation of the existing population. Initially led by Christopher Columbus, Spanish conquerors arrived in America with dreams of El Dorado, the mythical city of gold and riches. However, Central America did not prove to be a source of mineral wealth to the same extent as Mexico to the north and Peru to the south. As a result, although Central America was settled by the new masters from Spain, it remained largely a region of the vice-royalty of Mexico, then called Nueva España (New Spain), and received the name of Guatemala. At this time Guatemala consisted of five republics: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Current Panama was at the time part of Colombia and only became independent in 1903, whereas Belize was declared a ...