[3] During colonial centuries only a few italians came to what is now Guatemala, mostly religious missionaries with some merchants and a few soldiers under spanish rule.

[6] However there were also a few hundreds of Italians from Veneto and Tuscany, who were left without help by their immigration agents after they arrived in the Santo Tomás de Castilla port: some died of yellow fever and malaria, which were endemic to the region, but most moved away by 1878.

[7] It is noteworthy to pinpoint that when Barrios was killed in April 1885 in El Salvador, Alessandro Sinibaldi became President of Guatemala for some time even if he was born in Rome in 1814: his father was a wealthy Italian immigrant.

This wave of immigrants was different from the previous one, since they arrived in this scientific, writers, painters, sculptors, musicians and wealthy families.

From this period came the pioneers of the era that gave Guatemala a true socio-economic transformation: the decorators Lutti, Degrandi, Bernasconi, Carmennauti, Scoteti; the sculptor Andrew Gaileitti; the famous architect Porta, who left magnificent works in Quetzaltenango, such as the famous "Pasaje Enriquez"; the doctor Zagrini, a physician and surgeon; the lawyer Julio Drago; the engineers Vittorio Cottone, Enrico Invernizzio and Luigi Paiella, who plotted the Paseo de la Reforma Racetrack, Boulevard Aurora and Elena Avenue.

It is noteworthy to pinpoint that the father & mother of Riccardo Bressani, an italo-guatemalan scientist, came to Guatemala from Italy in this period.

[1] Since 2007 the institution "Internations Guatemala" is in charge of incorporating more foreign residents into Guatemalan culture, including those who are Italian.

[16] A number of Italian architects arrived in Guatemala towards the end of the 19th century, giving rise to an Italian-influenced art and architectural movement, particularly in the capital, and several Italian architects oversaw construction projects in Quetzaltenango; these included the Templo de Logia Fénix No.

[17] A group of Italian architects, including Porta and Luigi Lutti, with sculptor Desiderio Scotti, founded the Academy of Municipal Architecture, and were responsible for building many of the most prominent buildings in Quetzaltenango, including the Banco del Occidente and Pasaje Enríquez.