Editing Amerindian Genocide (section)

==== Spanish Conquest of Central America ====
After Christopher Columbus claimed Honduras for Spain during his final voyage in 1502, the conquistadors began colonizing the area that would become El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in 1524. The indigenous peoples living in the area led a war of resistance against the Spaniards that lasted fifteen years until the war ended with the defeat of the Lenca leader, Lempira. The Mesoamericans and Chibchans were then subjected to slavery via the ''encomienda'' system and many were sold to slave owners in Panama and the Caribbean.