Amapala, Treaties of (1895, 1907)

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Amapala, Treaties of (1895, 1907)

The first of these agreements was signed in Amapala, Honduras, on 20 June 1895 and created a confederation known as the "República Mayor de Centro América," which was later changed to "Los Estados Unidos de Centro América." Within three years this union was defunct due to a revolution begun in El Salvador. The official dissolution of the first treaty took place on 30 November 1898. In 1907, the second Treaty of Amapala ended a conflict between Honduras and Nicaragua, and reflected the tone of the Marble-head Pact of July 1906. The latter had recognized the interests of the United States in the region and had created the Central American Court of Justice. The court had its first test the following summer, when Nicaragua complained that Guatemala and El Salvador had instigated a revolutionary movement in Honduras. The ensuing conference ended hostilities, complied with the court's orders, and fueled hopes that a new spirit of peaceful coexistence would replace the characteristic interventionism of nineteenth-century Central America.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Michael Rheta Martin, Encyclopedia of Latin American History; revised edition by L. Robert Hughes (1968).

Thomas L. Karnes, The Failure of Union, rev. ed. (1976).

Nicaragua: Ministerio De Relaciones Exteriores, Documentos oficiales referentes a la guerra entre Nicaragua y Honduras de 1907, y la participación de El Salvador (1907).

Jeffrey D. Samuels

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture