Abstract

VILLEGAS REVUELTAS, Silvestre. Charles Wyke and His Mission in Juárez' Mexico. Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2006, n.32, pp.5-33. ISSN 0185-2620.

The justification for Charles Wyke's diplomatic work during almost two years in Mexico was based on the diplomatic instructions issued by the Foreign Office. This official document was important because it included basic features that determined the bilateral negotiations, and were based both on British standards and on the principles of international law. Juárez's two-year moratorium on debt-servicing in July 1861 convinced the governments of Great Britain, France and Spain to intervene in Mexico. This article examines this suspension of payment, since no Mexican government ever repudiated the external debt as such. It is argued here that the intervention was designed to establish a regime capable of honouring debt obligations and to prepare the country for important investments.

Keywords : debt; bondholders; legitimacy; convention; default; sovereignty.