[4]: 110  In 1877 the town was served by Manuel Ignacio Santa Cruz Loidi, a Basque priest and military leader in the unsuccessful effort to defeat the liberals in Spain's Third Carlist War.

Jose Maria Pinelo, a refugee from Petén during the presidency of Manuel Barillas, visited Benque, remaining from 1887 to 1889.

Sontag, Jesuit pastor in Benque, was found murdered at his desk in the rectory, with a machete the likely weapon.

In 2010 its population, mostly of Maya or Mestizo descent, was 5,824 (2,906 males and 2,918 females); households numbered 1,415 with average size 4.1.

[7] Benque has long been the place where tourists and merchants cross to Melchor and purchase Maya textiles.

Benque offers primary and secondary education, supermarkets, an annual fiesta, and is home to a Belize Premier Football League team.

Film director Caleb Botton used the town as the backdrop for 7 Days in Carmel which featured Benque's Holy Week processions.

As of May 2015, the mayor is Heraldo "Rancha" Ramcharan Jr. of the United Democratic Party, which also controls the town council.