PUERTO BARRIOS

town, northeastern Guatemala, on Amatique Bay, off the Gulf of Honduras. Until the 1970s it was the principal port of Guatemala, used primarily for shipping agricultural commodities. It was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century as the Caribbean terminus of the railway built by foreign contractors from the coast to Guatemala City, which realized a century-old Guatemalan dream of a national commercial outlet through a deepwater Atlantic port. The government became dissatisfied with control of the facilities by foreign interests, however, and constructed a government-owned and managed general cargo port at Santo Toms de Castilla (q.v.), just 6 miles (10 km) to the south, and a highway paralleling the railroad. Puerto Barrios was seriously damaged by the earthquake of 1976. Pop. (1981) 24,235.