Carlos Pereyra (as quoted in Herrarte, 1955: 187) has written that “the entire history of Central America has been a struggle between union and separatism.” While this may be somewhat overstated, it is undeniable that the unionist-separatist syndrome has provided a major theme for nineteenth- and twentieth-century isthmian interrelationships. Indeed, from the collapse of the original Central American Federation in 1838 to the recent failure of the Central American Common Market, isthmian leaders have made numerous attempts to achieve some form of Central American integration. At times the threat of a forceful imposition of union, posed by such men as Guatemala's Justo Rufino Barrios and Nicaragua's José Santos Zelaya, tended to discredit the unionist cause. Central American unionists, however, have been, if anything, resilient, and, despite temporary setbacks, the ideal of union has remained a constant in isthmian affairs.