 When Mexico achieved its independence, the southern portion of New Spain became independent as well as a result of the Treaty of Cordoba, so Central America, present-day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and part of Chiapas were incorporated into the Mexican Empire.Although Mexico now had its own government, there was no revolutionary change either socially or economically.The formal, legal racial distinctions were abolished, but power remained in the hands of white elites.