1881 Scott 23 5c red &green "Quetzal" Quick History In 1821 the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, consisting of Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras, declared itself independent from Spain, and part of the Mexican Empire. But two years later, all but Chiapas separated from Mexico, and the Guatemalan provinces formed the United Provinces of Central America. Then a civil war during 1838-40 broke the Union, with one of the leaders being Guatemala's Rafael Carrera. Carrera, backed by large land owners and the church, dominated Guatemalan politics until 1865. Then in 1871, a "Liberal Revolution" occurred in Guatemala under the direction of Justo Rufino Barrios, who attempted to modernize the country, increase manufacturing, and introduce new crops, such as coffee. The "Coat of Arms" stamps of Guatemala was issued the same year. In 1879, the iconic "Quetzal" design was first issued. Between 1898-1920, Guatemala was under the dictatorship of Manual Estrada Cabrera, boosted by the support of the United Fruit Company. In 1901, the Guatemalan government hired the United Fruit Company to manage the country's postal service. Bananas were the primary export of the United Fruit Company, today morphed into Chiquita Brands International. It's chief rival was the Standard Fruit Company, now Dole Foods. As a result of the heavy handed involvement of these companies in central american governments, the American author O. Henry coined the pejorative term "Banana Republic". The Capital is Guatemala City, and the population was 3,400,00 in 1943. Map of Central America 1892 Into the Deep Blue The 2011 Scott Classic catalogue has, from 1871-1940, 299 regular issue, 123 air post, 15 postal tax, and 28 descriptions for the semi-postal, official, and special delivery categories (Total- 454). Of those, 134 of the regular issue, and 55 of the other categories are surcharged or overprinted (Total 42%) : emphasizing the abundance of this type of stamp for Guatemala. Reviewing CV for 1871-1902: 43 of the 123 stamps are