Guatemala–Honduras border
A border from Cerro Montecristo, where Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador meet, to the Caribbean. After nearly a century of dispute, a US chief justice settled it in 1933 with the help of an aerial survey. In January 2021 thousands of Hondurans in a US-bound caravan pushed across it past Guatemalan police.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 29 September 2026Suggest a correction
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The Hughes award
Guatemala and Honduras disputed the line from the break-up of the Central American federation; treaties in 1845, 1895 and 1914 failed. Under a 1930 treaty they put it to a tribunal chaired by US Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, which applied the line of possession at independence in 1821 but could adjust for later development. Because maps were inadequate, it ordered an aerial survey. Its award of 23 January 1933 confirmed Guatemala north and west of the Motagua River and gave Honduras the Omoa and Cuyamel areas it had held for about a century. A commission put up 1,028 pillars between 1933 and 1936.[1]
The 2021 caravan
In January 2021 thousands of Hondurans, many fleeing violence and hardship worsened by the pandemic and deadly storms, set out on foot for the United States. Guatemalan officials said about 6,000 pushed past police and soldiers at the border on one day, most without the negative coronavirus test required, and 3,000 more the next. Security forces blocked the highway at Vado Hondo, and President Alejandro Giammattei called on Honduras to contain the mass exit of its people.[2]
“The government of Guatemala regrets this violation of national sovereignty”[2]
Timeline
More borders
Guatemala
Sources
- [1]International Boundary Study No. 157: Guatemala – Honduras Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 23 July 1976
- [2]Guatemala cracks down on caravan of 9,000 migrants bound for US · Al Jazeera (news agencies) · 16 January 2021
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.