EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

generally solid through the 1830s, 232 Hompesch and Leopold were able to convince the
Cabinet to begin to seriously consider the grant by Guatemala as a potential site for a
Belgian colony. The cabinet’s stipulation, however, was that no colonists or funds were
to be disguised pending the results of an expedition to Guatemala, the receipt of its
report and its publication.
The Compagnie belge de Colonisation (Compagnie) was chartered in 1841 as a
stock company formed for the purpose of buying the land from the British company and
procuring the necessary settlers for the colony. Leopold was present at its first meeting,
held in Brussels at the Hotel Mérode. Established much like its counterpart in Britain,
the Compagnie immediately attempted to sell stock. The initial failure to gain adequate
financial support was indicative of its future financial problems. Widely advertised as a
chance to acquire wealth and opportunity in a veritable Garden of Eden before even the
first settler arrived, the colony was advertised to church and village as a way to leave
the economic depression behind.
The expedition that resulted from the cabinets mandate 233 left for Guatemala and
spent approximately four months in the capital, Guatemala City, and at the colony’s
proposed site on the bay of Santo Tomas on the country’s east coast. 234 The mission’s
purpose was twofold. The first was to verify that the sale of the land granted to the
English company and sold to the Belgian company was still valid as far the Guatemalan
232
Baron Alphonse Nothomb became Minister of the Interior in 1841 and was more favorable to
the enterprise. Griffith, 225.
233
Instructions generales pour la commission d’exploration. nd AMAE 2027.
234
Also referred to as Vera Pas. Vera Paz, Verapaz or Verapas. The actual district in Guatemala
in which the Santo Tomas was located was VeraPaz.
115