[4] In the early 17th century, Dutch military engineer Adriaan Boot designed the Fort of San Diego in Acapulco to defend it from attacks by his countryman Joris van Spilbergen, among others.

The Porfiriato, because of its political stability and its growing financial credibility, and the incipient Dutch industrialization spurred investments and trade.

The Netherlands sent diplomats to Mexico to conclude new treaties that were signed between 1899 and 1909, but relations with the nation continued to be dispatched from the Dutch legation in Washington.

Muller (1905) and De Veer (1910) tell that some Dutch started tobacco and coffee plantations in Mexico, but Dutch immigration was generally scant, although the Mexican government was interested in attracting good farmers and dairy farmers to Mexico and made it clear that there was room for Javanese workers on the sugar and cocoa plantations.

[5] Dutch trade in Mexico was carried out mainly from the port of Rotterdam and reflected the increasing modernization of industry and the Mexican railway.

[6] In 1910, the Netherlands was number five in the list of countries of origin of foreign investments in Mexico, after the United States and the three great European powers.