Indigenous People in Latin America
Case studies
Reasons for increased Indian Activism and Unity
Problems
90% of cultivable land owned by small minority who were white or mestizo
Most indigenous people were not allowed to vote
Key reasons for increased Indian activism
Liberation theology
Economic problems
Sympathetic governments
Politicisation of the peasants
Organisations
Globalisation
In 1945, peasants were largely illiterate and not politically active
Gradually became politicised
e.g. in remote regions of the Andes, peasants became politicised by radical left movement
In Peru, peasants became politicised by unions, increased exposure to city life through temporary work and friends and family and increased literacy and access to political information
Colombian Regional Council of Cauca Indians (CRIC)
Established in 1971
Raised ethnic consciousness
Indian Council of South America (CISA)
Established in 1980
Organisations emphasised 'Indianism', arguing that the physical survival of Indians required their cultural survival and that they were entitled to autonomy
These organisations gained national attention and international publicity and made it difficult for governments to ignore the indigenous population
A Latin American Catholic clergy movement, inspiring parishioners to work for change in this life rather than wait for their reward in heaven
In 1962, the Second Vatican Council concluded that more needed to be done for indigenous people and the attendees of the Catholic Bishops conference in Colombia in 1968 agreed
Followers of Liberation Theology organised the poor into Christian Base Communities (CEBs), which combined religiou study with agitation for measures that would help the poor such as land redistribution, water rights and better wages
Some Catholics were uneasy about the pronouncements of liberation theologists e.g. El Salvador's Archbishop Romero said 'When all peaceful means have been exhausted, the Church considers insurrection justified
In 1980, Pope John Paul II visited Brazil and forbade clergy from holding political office and the use of violence to gain equality - after this the Liberation Theology movement began to decline
Economic problems triggered self-help movementse
For example, coca grower unions in Bolivia campaigned for the right to earn a living from growing coca
From the 1980s, globalisation accelerated progress for indigenous people in Latin America
Technology and mass media along with migration from rural areas to cities exposed the indigenous population to foreign ideas on individualism and civil rights
Some governments recognised that racial divisions and discrimination hampered national progress. Some also simply sought indigenous support
For example, the socialist military regime of General Velasco Alvarado in Peru gave Quechua the same status as Spanish and redistributed land to indigenous communities
In 1989, Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) required governments to ensure the equality of indigenous populations
As a result of Convention 1969, many Latin American governments ratified the convention and some even amended their constitutions to recognise indigenous rights
Methods for obtaining equality for Indigenous Peoples
Voting
Protests
Activists
Rebellions
Organisations
Long-established but frequently unsuccessful method for gaining equality
However, success was seen in Bolivia in 1952
Rebellions against the military governments of Guatemala and Nicaragua gained little and violence was often counterproductive, as seen in Peru
Peru
In 1960, the Aymara and Quechua communities constituted around half of the Peruvian population. Most lived in poverty in the Andean highlands and were regarded as inferior
President Fernando Belaúnde Terry (1963-1968) promised agrarian reform but did little
As a result of the lack of action, indigenous people began seizing cultivated landing claiming they had earned through labour
In response, in late 1963, the government sent the military in
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)
A splinter group of the Peruvian Communist Party established in 1980
They encouraged peasantry to invade, occupy and rob élite-owned land
In Peru, they waged guerilla war on the 'establishment', including tax collectors and wealthy merchants
In 1982, the government responded with indiscriminate attacks on villages. From 1980 to 1988, 15,000 mostly innocent peasants were killed - half by Shining Path and half by the military
Eventually, Shining Path's violence alienated the peasantry.
Peasants were killed, 3,500 imprisoned and 19,000 forced to leave their homes
Organisations were typically more effective than rebellions
In 1973, some influential figures in the Catholic church established the Indigenous Mission Council (CIMI), which organised the meetings of indigenous chiefs in 1974, 1975 and 1976
At these meetings, massacres such as those perpetrated by ranchers in 1976 were denounced. CEBs brought people together to discuss legal tactics and form unions
Domitila Barrios de Chungara
She was the daughter of an impoverished highlands family from Bolivia, who with only six year of formal education, managed to attract global attention
In Bolivia, the average life span for a tin miner was 35 years and if a miner died or was unable to work due to an accident, their wives received no support
She led the Housewives' Committee of Siglo, which was established in 1961 to coordinate protests
She joined in labour movements, strikes and demonstrations aimed at improving working conditions for miners and creating jobs for women
She was frequently arrested and tortured in jail
After she attended the UN International Women's Year Tribunal in 1975, she wrote "Let me speak!" published in 1978
Her activism contributed to greater Bolivian government attention to worker's problems
Perhaps the most significant method of achieving equality as it allowed indigenous people to vote for more sympathetic, and sometimes even indigenous, politicians
Continued inequality
Governments
Internal divisions
Continued problems
Greed, racism, cultural clashes, internal divisions and unsympathetic governments
As the 20th century progressed, official disapproval of racism increased
Historians such as Benjamin Keen say that indigenous people remained the main target for racial abuse and violence
Massacres continued e.g. 12,000 Yanomamis were killed by gold miners in 1975
Divisions within tribes reduced progress e.g. in Bolivia the Aymara and Quechua communities found it difficult to cooperate in campaigning for equality
Divisions within national communities made campaigns for indigenous people problematic when some indigenous customs (e.g. arranged marriage or public beatings) were considered undesirable and unacceptable even by some indigenous people
Some governments were very unsympathetic towards indigenous people
For example, the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua killed thousands of indigenous peasants who had been mobilised by the Sandinista guerillas
Some of the Latin American governments who most strongly opposed social reform were significantly supported by the US who were desperate for right-wing cold war allies
In 1999, Bill Clinton visited Guatemala to apologise for the US support of successive right-wing Guatemalan regimes
Even sympathetic governments struggled to balance the interests of the indigenous population and national prosperity, as in Peru, where Quechua Alejandro Toledo elected president in 2001, displeased other Quechua when he allowed the privatisation of oil and gas discovered in the Amazon
Bolivia
Guatemala
Peru
Mexico
People were impoverished as 90% of cultivable land was owned by white or mestizo people. Many unable to vote. Drug cartels encouraged people to grow coca but it was criminalised by the government in the late 1980s despite it's use in indigenous medicines
Evo Morales - Bolivia's first indigenous president who came into public view by speaking on behalf of the coca grower's association
He headed the biggest coca grower's association - the Unified Syndical Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB)
Actions taken
1952 National Revolution
Carried out by the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) and Victor Paz Estenssoro became the new president
The new government put forward reforms that aimed to decrease the exploitation of indigenous peoples, who were given more political power and land
Changes after the revolution
Universal suffrage (previously the majority of indigenous people had not been able to vote)A
Agrarian Reform Law 1953 legalised peasants seizing land and helped redistribute large estates (24 million acres were redistributed by 1955)
Chew-ins of coca leaves, hunger strikes, protests and strategic road blocks were all used successfully to force the government to compromise on coca farming
Problems - one of the poorest Latin American nations, majority of Mayans were illiterate, life expectancy less than 40, infant mortality rate over 50% due to lack of healthcare and 200,000 Guatemalans died over four decades of dictatorship
Individuals
Rigoberta Menchú raised awareness for indigenous rights
Jacobo Árbenz passed an Agrarian Reform Law in 1953
Colonel Rafael Arriaga Bosque was seen to be Guatemala's most effective and elightened leader
Organisations
The Community of Peasant Unity (CUC) developed out of a variety of groups - Mayan Cultural Associations and CEBs were seen as peasant leagues and didn't develop as much
Actions taken
In 1980, the CUC organised a strike of 150,000 workers which halted sugar and cotton production and gained wage increases
Mayan guerilla groups caused considerable damage to the Guatemalan economy
Árbenz was overthrown by the US in 1954
There was middle-class anxiety about the rise of the Indians against civilisation and the impact of land redistribution of the influential US-owned United Fruit Company
Persecution of many indigenous peasants was justified as "fighting communism" which prompted increased US aid to the Guatemalan government
In 1967, Bosque and the US military launched its first scorched-earth campaign, "if you are with us, we will feed you;if not, we will kill you"
Legal changes
Under Jacobo Árbenz, an agrarian reform law of 1952 was passed as the peasantry had been mobilised by the Guatemalan National Peasant Confederation (CNCG), which had nearly 250,000 members and contributed to the increase in indigenous uprisings
As a result of the reform, over 100,000 peasant families received credit, land and technical aid from new state agencies by 1954
Success in gaining rights
Indigenous people survived and revived, constituting around half the population. They became more vocal. Encouraged by Noble Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú
1996 peace agreements committed the Guatemalan government to recognise the identity and rights of indigenous populations - however, the didn't do all they had promised
Problems - impoverished without cultivable land, no voting rights and no recognition of culture or rights
Individuals in Peru
General Velasco Alvarado
Socialist military leader (1968-1975). He heightened cultural and racial self awareness of the Andean Indigenous people
President Fernando Belaunde (1963-1968) promised agrarian reform but little changed
Organisations
International Labour Congress (ILC) required nations to accept the rights and equality of indigenous peoples
Communist Party of Peru gave way to a splinter group - Shining Path
Actions taken
Peasants were politicised through exposure to city life through temporary work and increased literacy and access to political information
Rebellions by the Aymara and Quechua people
They seized land that they believed was paid for by their labour
In 1963, the government sent in military forces - 8000 killed, 3500 imprisoned and 19000 forced to leave their homes
Sendero Luminoso (see notes)
Problems
Had suffered from discrimination, humiliation and deprivation at the hands of the mestizos and the whites
Mexican governments tried to protect the indigenous languages and cultures; Caciques and village councils were given more authority and native children were educated in bilingual schools however this did not last long and they returned to their previous struggles by the 1970s
Key people
After much publicity and a lot of protests, Leopoldo de Gyves from the COCEI became the mayor of Juchitán - he helped to restore culture and made speeches in his native language until he was overthrown in 1982 by the state government
Organisations
COCEI
They demanded the restoration of land, electoral democracy and the defence of the Zapotec culture.
This was founded by the indigenous peasantry and students in Oaxaca - this area had a long history of rebellion over land rights.
Coalition of workers, peasants and students
Their candidates in municipal elections in 1974, 1977 and 1980 did not win, and then later they formed an alliance with the Communist Party.
UCEZ
In 1979 in western México, the Unión de Comuneros Emiliano Zapata was established in an attempt to defend indigenous property and communal cultural traditions.
It was supported by the Catholic clergy and leftist political parties.
The UCEZ provided legal aid and orchestrated mass meetings for the public to talk about their problems
This organisation forced the resignation of corrupt delegates of the Ministry of Agrarian Reform in Michoacán
EZLN
Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional
In January 1994, around 12 000 guerillas, led by a council of 24 Mayan commanders, took control of 3 cities in Chiapas and demanded self-rule for the indigenous peoples.
14 000 Mexican army troops were deployed as a counter-offensive - they bombed villages, executed without trials and tortured suspects. 145 guerillas died and hundreds more were injured.
Actions Taken
In 2001, after the President Vicente Fox had ordered the release of prisoners in the previous year, Marcos led another EZLN march to México City to demand indigenous autonomy. They were greeted by thousands of supporters, however despite these protests, the ‘Indians continue to have second-class status’ according to historian Burton Kirkwood.
The EZLN was forced out of the cities but the uprising that they initiated lasted for several more years - throughout these years, campesinos that had previously been landless now occupied nearly 100 000 acres of farmland which provoked more than 100 wealthy landowners to start a hunger strike in México City. There was national unease about the number of deaths caused by this uprising and a march of 100 000 people forced the Mexican government to stop the military operation.