Guatemala P128 20 quetzales 2020 UNC—CENTRAL AMERICA INDEPENDENCE COMMEMORATIVE

Guatemala bicentennial of Central American independence

Front: Dr. Mariano Gálvez

Back:

• Allegory of the signing of the Central American declaration of independence
• Quetzal bird

Watermark: Portrait of Doctor Mariano Gálvez with electrotype 20 on the left and electrotype Mayan symbol for 20 on the right

UV activity: large Guatemala flag "watermark" style, 20, Mayan symbol for 20, quetzal bird

Independence in Central America

This is complicated... under Spanish rule, today’s Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica — were all part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Central America formally fell under the New Spain government in Mexico City, but in practice it operated separately. (Panama, on the other hand, was administratively part of New Granada, now Colombia).

The authorities in Mexico City declared New Spain's independence from Spain the Treaty of Córdoba on August 24, 1821 (later consummated by the entry of the Army of the Three Guarantees into Mexico City on September 27). However, as Central America didn't recognize Mexico City's authority, it signed its own Act of Independence from Spain in Guatemala City on September 15.

Almost immediately after their declaration, however, the five Central American provinces voted to annex themselves to the First Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide, a union proclaimed in January 1822. They thus became independent from Spain, but not yet independent states in their own right. When Iturbide was overthrown and the empire collapsed in March 1823, the Central American provinces withdrew from Mexico and, on 1 July 1823, declared full sovereignty, forming the Federal Republic of Central America, which would exist until its fragmentation between 1838 and 1840.

The sequence of Central American independence

• 15 Sept 1821 – Independence from Spain (as a single Central American entity)

• January 1822 – Self-annexation to Mexico

• March 1823 – Fall of Mexican Emperor Iturbide

• 1 July 1823 – Separation from Mexico and creation of the Central American Federation

• 1838–1840 – Breakup into five countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica