Challenge: Have Guatemala Unify With Belize

Is there any way that Guatemala and Belize can unify together without having it go down into a shitshow? Guatemala has had claims for the region and there was even a pro-Guatemala militia in Belize. Belize also has numerous ethnic Mayan people living there as well. So is it possible Guatemala can find a way to have Belize a part of itself? Or will it not go well?
 
The Beleizian (sp?) peoples have a very successful legacy of resisting not only Spanish atempts at conquering the region but also totally ignoring any deals made 'on their behalf' by the British and only becoming part of the British Empire in the 1860s IIRC

The 'Mayans' you talk of are decendents of peoples who fled Slavery in Guatemala in the latter half of the 19th C and I doubt if they see themselves as Guatamalan.

Maybe if Guatemala was a more successful country around the time of Beleizian independence (1981?) then there might have been an opportunity for the 2 nations to join but OTL Guatamala was not even close!

Before that the British are in charge and once even sent HMS Ark Royal to the Carribean during the 70s in order to dampen Guatamalan desires for a military solution (a pair of Buccaneers flying slow and low across Guatamalan City seemed to have served)

I struggle to see it happening
 

James G

Gone Fishin'
The Beleizian (sp?) peoples have a very successful legacy of resisting not only Spanish atempts at conquering the region but also totally ignoring any deals made 'on their behalf' by the British and only becoming part of the British Empire in the 1860s IIRC

The 'Mayans' you talk of are decendents of peoples who fled Slavery in Guatemala in the latter half of the 19th C and I doubt if they see themselves as Guatamalan.

Maybe if Guatemala was a more successful country around the time of Beleizian independence (1981?) then there might have been an opportunity for the 2 nations to join but OTL Guatamala was not even close!

Before that the British are in charge and once even sent HMS Ark Royal to the Carribean during the 70s in order to dampen Guatamalan desires for a military solution (a pair of Buccaneers flying slow and low across Guatamalan City seemed to have served)

I struggle to see it happening
British Forces Belize have been on the ground, and with Harriers too, in various forms since then.
 
The Beleizian (sp?) peoples have a very successful legacy of resisting not only Spanish atempts at conquering the region but also totally ignoring any deals made 'on their behalf' by the British and only becoming part of the British Empire in the 1860s IIRC

The 'Mayans' you talk of are decendents of peoples who fled Slavery in Guatemala in the latter half of the 19th C and I doubt if they see themselves as Guatamalan.

Maybe if Guatemala was a more successful country around the time of Beleizian independence (1981?) then there might have been an opportunity for the 2 nations to join but OTL Guatamala was not even close!

Before that the British are in charge and once even sent HMS Ark Royal to the Carribean during the 70s in order to dampen Guatamalan desires for a military solution (a pair of Buccaneers flying slow and low across Guatamalan City seemed to have served)

I struggle to see it happening

So have Guatemala do better then? Would that help?
 
Belize also has numerous ethnic Mayan people living there as well. So is it possible Guatemala can find a way to have Belize a part of itself? Or will it not go well?
And there are ethnic Iroquois living in both the USA and Canada, I guess that means Canada should be a part of the US now? Seriously, what do the Maya have to do with Guatemala's territorial claims on Belize? If their vaguely similar ethnic makeup is a good enough reason then shouldn't both countries be a part of Mexico?
 

James G

Gone Fishin'
And there are ethnic Iroquois living in both the USA and Canada, I guess that means Canada should be a part of the US now? Seriously, what do the Maya have to do with Guatemala's territorial claims on Belize? If their vaguely similar ethnic makeup is a good enough reason then shouldn't both countries be a part of Mexico?

That silly line of thinking has no end!
If we use it with regards to Mexico then there are Mexicans in the US so let's unite them. There are those of British heritage in the US so let's rejoin the US to the UK and... oh, damn.
 
That silly line of thinking has no end!
If we use it with regards to Mexico then there are Mexicans in the US so let's unite them. There are those of British heritage in the US so let's rejoin the US to the UK and... oh, damn.
You have found the solution to world peace.
 
I was in Guatemala in 2008 and remember seeing at some sort of government building, a post office I think, a map that showed Belize as part of Guatemala. It wasn't even some bombastic propaganda map, it looked like just a normal paper national map like they put up in classrooms. Almost as if it drifted in from an alternate timeline...
 
And there are ethnic Iroquois living in both the USA and Canada, I guess that means Canada should be a part of the US now? Seriously, what do the Maya have to do with Guatemala's territorial claims on Belize? If their vaguely similar ethnic makeup is a good enough reason then shouldn't both countries be a part of Mexico?

No, it all means they should all be part of Guatemala because the tallest temples from the Mayan world are in Guatemala. The park ranger giving the tour of Tikal National Park (also known as the Rebel Base on the moon of Yavin 4) was very insistent on that and you could tell it was a real point of pride with her.
 
No, it all means they should all be part of Guatemala because the tallest temples from the Mayan world are in Guatemala. The park ranger giving the tour of Tikal National Park (also known as the Rebel Base on the moon of Yavin 4) was very insistent on that and you could tell it was a real point of pride with her.
Incidentally, that's kind of debatable since the primary temple at El Mirador (admittedly also in Guatemala) may have been taller during its prime and is significantly older and definitely much larger, with pyramids almost as large in Calakmul in Mexico, and I'd argue that Calakmul was possibly a greater city than Tikal and seemingly had a broader hegemony as well as not falling under foreign domination unlike Tikal which fell to an army led by a Teotihuacano.
 
Incidentally, that's kind of debatable since the primary temple at El Mirador (admittedly also in Guatemala) may have been taller during its prime and is significantly older and definitely much larger, with pyramids almost as large in Calakmul in Mexico, and I'd argue that Calakmul was possibly a greater city than Tikal and seemingly had a broader hegemony as well as not falling under foreign domination unlike Tikal which fell to an army led by a Teotihuacano.

Her point was about the temples in Guatemala in general, not just Tikal although she was clearly quite proud of Tikal.

From what I understand, Tikal and Calakmul were basically the Athens and Sparta of the classical Mayan world and their war more or less dragged everyone in and ultimately saw the end of classical Mayan civilization.
 
Her point was about the temples in Guatemala in general, not just Tikal although she was clearly quite proud of Tikal.

From what I understand, Tikal and Calakmul were basically the Athens and Sparta of the classical Mayan world and their war more or less dragged everyone in and ultimately saw the end of classical Mayan civilization.
The end in the Classic Lowlands anyway, it continued to flourish for a few more centuries in the northern Yucatan in places like Chichen Itza, and the southern highlands in Guatemala didn't seem too adversely effected although AFAIK they never really fully recovered from the Preclassic collapse. But yeah, there was a reason I based my Maya TL around the conflict ending sooner or something like that, albeit in Calakmul's favor.
 
Top