… The Caste War 1847-1930s

By: Omar Silva

Belize City, Friday 21st April 2023

For over 80 years, from 1847 to the 1930s, the Maya people in the Yucatan Peninsula, including those in Belize, fought for their independence and autonomy against the Mexican government, the British colonizers, and the Yucatec Maya group known as the Cruzoob Maya.

The Chan Santa Cruz state, founded by the Cruzoob Maya in 1850, was the largest of the independent Maya communities, stretching from north of Tulum to the Belize border and inland. However, other Maya groups, such as the Ixcanha Maya, refused to break with traditional Catholicism and agreed to nominal recognition of Mexico in exchange for guns to defend themselves from Cruzob raids.

The Icaiche Maya, located in the jungles of the lower center of the peninsula and including part of northwestern Belize, battled against the Mexicans, the Cruzob, and the British in the 1860s. The British discovered mahogany in Belize and faced Maya resistance in Icaiche and in the Yalbac area, where the Icaiche Maya, with the support of Marcus Canul and the Maya who had migrated to the San Pedro Yalbac area, defeated the British troops in December 1866, known as the battle of San Pedro Yalbac.

However, the British retaliated with incendiary rockets, setting the houses of Icaiche in Yalbac on fire from a good distance away. Many Maya people moved away while others rebuilt their villages. Canul was killed in September 1872, and the new Icaiche leaders promised respect and friendship with the British.

In the early 1930s, the Belize Estate and Produce Company (BEC) began a series of campaigns to forcibly remove Maya villagers of San Jose Yalbac, claiming that the land was now private ‘company property.’ They soon made an agreement with Mexico similar to that of Ixcanha, which granted the company rights over the land.

It is important to remember the history of the Maya Masewal communities and their struggle for independence and autonomy during the Guerra Social Maya. Despite facing numerous challenges, these communities were able to resist and maintain their traditions and ways of life.