Download A brief introduction to the history of Guatemala

A brief introduction to the
history of Guatemala
by Ana María Méndez Libby, director of IBIS Guatemala
Within the whirling roads of inequality, an historical approach to
the foundation and historical socio economic and political
configuration of Iximulew, that land called Guatemala, the Land
of Corn.
It is said and understood that all countries’ birth is a painful and violent one.
Still, one where most its citizens as time goes by, can look back and be
grateful to those who gave their lives for such nation, country, freedom or
independence. Yet, there are other more complex histories that continue
defining and marking realities, being sometimes as present as when they
happened.
Guatemala is recognized to have one of the most complex histories in Latin
America. During the Colony it was known as The General Captainship of
Guatemala, and was second to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which today is
known as Mexico. The General Captainship of Guatemala was the epicenter
of power from the southeastern states of Mexico up to Costa Rica.
It
concentrated a vast indigenous population of diverse ethnic backgrounds,
which founded and ruled a complex colonial public and commercial
administration system. The Mayan civilization, with outstanding knowledge
and development in math, writing, astronomy, commerce and architecture
was a flourishing one when the Spanish colonization process arrived.
As all colonization processes, the main objective was that of extracting
richness for the colonizers as the Spanish Kingdom. The economic strategy
was geared by an economic institution known as the “Encomienda” which
entitled all colonizers to claim land and indigenous manpower for his own both in the name of the Kingdom.
The encomienda was the prize to the Spaniards who decided to come to the
region and consisted in Land and Indigenous people to work it. The Spanish
crown saved a great amount of money, creating a society with a core of
dominators highly privileged and powerful, the majority of them inhabiting the
center of Guatemala, where they established the conservative institutions
which prevailed until 1871, when a liberal movement started another period of
exploitation and economic reform on behalf of the “criollos”, which were the
elite of European origin, born in Guatemala, desirous to control the country
and the region without the Spaniard domain.
The system of colonization and control of land and territories giving privileges,
carried out the conquest without incurring in expenses to the crown, but
started to create divergences among the crown and the interests of the
colonizers and mainly its descendants, the criollos.
The main intention of the criollos, mainly during the XVIII century was to
control the indigenous population, preserving the majority of privileges: that
was the main intention of the independence and the creation of the Central
American Republic which endured, with many political problems, from 1823 to
1839. The criollos aspired for independence mostly based on an economic
desire to not pay taxes to the Spanish Crown and other institutions, including
the Church.
Indigenous people were considered as assets and even seen as beasts since
they had no soul according to the church. Not being Christians and instead
worshipers of multiple gods or nature representations, was enough for such
considerations. This was a lucrative and convenient position to all since the
brutalities of exploitation were justified from all perspectives.
It is until the colonization period advanced and when a famous catholic Friar,
called Bartolomé de las Casas, denounced before the Spanish courts the
injustices and brutalities committed against them, that the Church and the
Spanish Crown decided to acknowledge their humanity. This recognition was
not based on a humanitarian or Christian principle, but once again on an
economic one. They were subjects of income generation and therefore
subject to taxation, and if their religions were an issue, the Church would
christen them, and for this collect tax. Even up to mid XX Century, the
indigenous people were politically addressed as the “indigenous problem”
which needed to be fixed and assessed with diminished rights, since they
were not considered equal citizens and their sociopolitical conception was
based on racist appreciations.
In relation to inequality, Guatemala was the typical region of the extensive
property which propitiated the so called in the sociological analysis as the
Kulak or Junker way of the development of capitalism, in contrast to the
farmer way that was characterized by the development of the medium size
property.
In the sociological analysis, and according to history, the Kulak way was a part
of the Russian history previously to the Russian revolution, and the Junker way
was part of the German history, previously to the industrial revolution.
Being Guatemala an agrarian society, its development and its inequality is
based on the model of property of the natural resources, especially water and
land, which was controlled first by the Spaniards, than by the “criollos” and
lately by the multinational extractive industries and very few landowners.
Estimations indicate that more than 75 percent of land is owned by less than
10% of the Guatemalan population.
According to William Robinson1”each epoch of world capitalism has produced
a rearticulation of Central America to it, including the transformation of social
forces and the restructuring of the economies, classes, states, and power
blocs. The first cycle, colonial mercantile insertion, lasted until its collapse in
the mid-nineteenth century. The second, based on coffee and bananas, ran
from the 1870s until it entered into crisis in 1930”.
Consequently, the economic model, based on land, resources and manpower,
surmounted the colonial times, and prevailed to the XX century (1930). The
main changes were the change of political regimes, passing from a
conservative domain 1839-1871, to a liberal regime 1871-1830-1945, the
latter evolved into a period of the intensification of the exploitation of the
indigenous population due to the coming of the economy of agro-exportation
or plantation economy, moved by the north American companies, starting
around the 20´s, and the heyday of the coffee model.
Contrary to other Latin American countries, Guatemala could never develop a
more fair land distribution or a just and dignified true recognition of the
indigenous people and their fundamental rights. History repeats itself as a
model of exclusion, repression and racism in order to preserve an economic
model that is successful in benefiting the few and preserving low cost and
extensive manpower. Unlike its north neighbor Mexico and other countries,
Guatemala could never achieve an agrarian reform that could dismantle the
basis of this historic economic model.
The history from 1839 to 1945 is a history of military dictatorships and great
influence of the catholic church and an oligarchy formed by European
descendants (Spaniards, German and North Americans), which established its
power in the capital of Guatemala thanks to their domain and big property on
natural resources, and the process of colonization of the southern lands of the
pacific rim (1950), where they established the crops of cotton, sugar and
nowadays palm and bananas.
The strategy of colonization of the southern region was also based on the
formula: land domain and migration of the indigenous and ladino population,
mainly coming from the western highlands: that’s is the explanation of why
the resources and main assets are concentrated, producing an extreme
persiting inequality.
The absence of democracy and the extreme social injustice, paved the road
for a democratic spring between the decade of 1944 and 1945. During this
period, progressive citizens supported by a democratic social oriented faction
of the Guatemalan Army, gain power through clean elections after a long era
of dictatorships and frauds. They were inspired by social changes throughout
the continent and mainly by the Rerum Novarum Papal Encyclical that called
for a fairer distribution of the land and the need to grant labour rights. During
this era, Guatemala created important reforms as adopting a Labour Code,
1
Robinson,William(2003)Transnationalconflicts:CentralAmerica,socialchangeand
globalization,Versoeditorial,London,pp.149
establishing a basic non-universal social security system, and other social
reforms.
Caught within the whirls of the Cold War era, the anticommunist fever and
fear headed by the United States it was obvious, that when the democratic
government aimed to generate land reforms that affected the interests of the
elite and the transnational companies, a coup would end this era. And so it
did, throwing Guatemala into a 36 year long period of internal armed conflict,
that shattered the lives of more than 250,000 people most of them civilians
and non-fighters. The low intense armed conflict was characterized by grave
human rights violations, the installation of forced disappearance and genocide
acts against the indigenous communities.
Truth Commissions have
evidenced that at least 80% of the victims were non combatant ones.
The internal armed conflict was contrary to popular believe, not generated by
a group of rebel communist peasant or indigenous movements financed by
the late USSR. It originated within the own Guatemalan Army where a group
of social oriented high-ranking officers opposed North American interventions,
absence of democracy and an end to social injustice.
Later, trade unions,
peasants, university students and teachers and people from diverse
socioeconomic backgrounds embraced the movement.
The armed conflict
ended with the signature of the Peace Agreements in 1996.
Exclusion, exploitation and racism are the basic traits of the Guatemalan
History. It is also a history of constant violence and repression that prevails
in its post conflict stage. Despite the commitments achieved 20 years ago
when the Peace Agreements were signed, few have been complied. All in all,
as in most armed conflicts, the most vulnerable and excluded continue to
suffer the most after the armed conflict has ended. In this case, it’s the
indigenous populations.
The structural causes of the armed conflict remain almost intact. Access to
land, opportunities and full recognition of equal rights continues to be an aim
and the main demand of the indigenous people and the poor. Socio-economic
exclusion, discrimination and violence have new faces, but in essence are the
same.
The increasing motivation to migrate from this environment is
understandable and painful when one acknowledges the community and
family disruptive effects as the dangers involved in such ordeals. Yet, until
opportunities are developed for the young to stay with a more right respectful
environment, changes will not be achieved.
Aiming to influence the achievement of a more just an equal history is
possible, and Guatemala is inhaling new democratic airs that can advance this
era. Faith in humanity should never be lost.