Juan Galindo

Juan Galindo (1802 – 30 January 1840) was an Irish-Honduran political activist and military and administrative officer for the Liberal government of the Federal Republic of Central America.

In 1834, he received a million-acre land grant in Petén with the stipulations that he pacify the native Lacandon Maya and settle the area in five years with colonists who would be loyal to the Guatemalan government.

British mahogany cutters were actively logging the area, depriving Galindo of the land's most valuable asset.

[7] Galindo left Central America in January, 1835, stopping first in Washington, DC in hopes of enlisting the United States to endorse his cause against the British.

This enterprise ended in failure; the settlers were ill-equipped, lacked sufficient supplies, and found no way to earn a living once they arrived.

Galindo attempted to rally sympathy against perceived British aggression but this effort failed to gain popular attention.

[10] As military governor of Petén, Galindo performed an exploratory journey down the Usumacinta River and then crossed overland to reach the Maya ruins at Palenque in April 1831.

He spent a month exploring the site and wrote an account of the various structures, drew plans, and sketched several of the decorations he encountered.

A more detailed report with twenty-six illustrations was sent to the Société de Géographie in Paris and the original was sent to his government with the mistaken assumption that it would be published.

[12] Although it was just a small part of his career, Galindo proved to be an astute observer and an effective communicator who earned recognition as an early pioneer of Maya archaeology.