The Guatemalan government, like many governments of Latin America, has been through multiple changes. Since the country gained its independence from Spain, it has gone from being a kingdom run by the Spanish elite, a military dictatorship, and finally a constitutional democratic republic. Guatemala's independence wasn't as bloody as many of the other Spanish colonies' struggle towards it, since there was no actual war with Spain. In fact, the colony stayed extremely loyal to Spain, while countries like Mexico and Colombia were at their tipping points. It wasn't until 1821, the same year that Mexico, a country that had been fighting for independence for ten years, that Guatemala peacefully left the Spanish empire. 1 One could argue that Guatemala did not want the form of independence that the other countries like Mexico or the United States of America fought so long for to achieve. "On September 15, 1821, a council of notables in Guatemala City declared independence from Spain and formed a government that assumed jurisdiction over the entire kingdom, keeping the acting captain general, Gabino de Gainza, as the chief executive.2" Guatemala's newfound form of government was short-lived because it was not long before the new empire of Mexico wanted to take control of the provinces of Central America. This reflects the greedy mindset of the colonies after they gained their independence, because the United States also started to expand on its empire, showing that these "new" countries wanted to, and strived to be bigger superpowers than the countries that founded them. Guatemala and the surrounding provinces however, didn't allow for Mexico or any other country to gain control of it again. "A Central American convention declared Central America independent on July 1, 1823, and formed the United Provinces of Central America, a federation that included Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.