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

As was the case with Santo Tomas, there was certainly sufficient reason to look
toward the political situation along the Rio Nunez as a contributing factor to failure.
The issue of the Ali Manso treaty is so isolated and unexplainable that it is impossible
to discern motives or sincerity other than what was expressed in the document itself.
Since it was neither responded to nor acted upon, there is no need for further inquiry.
The situation along the Rio Nunez both contributed to the opportunity and
prevented any real expectation of success. The very nature of the treaty as a reaction to
local politics did not give a great deal of depth to the stability of the claim. The revised
treaty was likewise a product of a military action that temporarily skewed the parties so
as to again render the stability of the claim on weak grounds. The problem was that,
despite the new treaty, Belgium was left with a revised treaty by a deposed leader that
had been undercut by a later treaty under a different leader which likely had no
probative value. The Belgian government had wandered into a political situation of
profound confusion and paid the price.
The people of Belgium do not seem to have played any direct part in the
decision regarding the Rio Nunez matter or its later failure. 389 The economic condition
of the country began to improve considerably in the 1850s and beyond. Additionally,
there do not seem to have been any real plans for colonial settlements similar to that of
Santo Tomas or even the one considered for the Republic of Texas. The very nature of
the rampant diseases and generally unhealthy nature of the southwest African coast
militated against any concentration of Europeans at that time. The purpose of the naval
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