2. LEGACIES AND CENTRAL
AMERICAN CONTEXTS
What schools and the media teach as the only
possible way of remembering the past simply
passes on the voices that repeat the boring litany
of power’s self-sacralization. Exoneration
requires unremembering. There are successful
countries and people and there are failed countries
and people because the efficient deserve rewards
and the useless deserve punishment. .. Broken
memory leads us to believe that wealth is
innocent of poverty…(Galeano, 34: 2000)
Objectives of the Class
• Acquire a background of the region’s social and
political histories
• To understand that today’s Central American
social and political realities are connected to a
historical, social and political context: colonialism,
exploitation, oppression and resistance
• To look with critical eyes at the ways in which
Central American social and cultural realities are
perceived, discussed and portrayed by North
American governments and audiences
Background of the region’s social and
political histories
• First encounter: Europeans and Indigenous
populations of Central America --1522
• Upsetting of ecological and demographic
balance--brutal tactics--ejidos
• Imperialist dimension: constant foreign
intervention,
“The enduring allure of the
region derives from its unique
geographical position.
Spain...Britain and the United
States have all come to
appreciate its strategic
importance for both North and
South America (Leiken, 1990).
Background of the region’s social and
political histories
• Central American Independence: 1821
• Disintegration of the nation: 1838 -political rivalry between conservatives and
liberals
• The adventures of William Walker: 1850’s
• Zelaya and the “Monroe Doctrine”
The interconnectedness between historical
events and today’s Central American social
and political contexts
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•
•
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Status quo:
Authoritarian military governments
Allegiance to the Catholic church
Economic and military dependency on the
USA
The interconnectedness between historical
events and today’s Central American social
and political contexts
• Peasants become farm workers:
expropriation of land, low salaries, high
poverty, high infant mortality, low literacy
• Pressure for agrarian reform: revolution:
Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua (1960’s
to1990’s)
The Sandinista Revolution: 19791990
• By means of a national coalition
• Addressing social problems: agrarian
problem, health and education issues
• Civil war: East/West conflict
• The sandinistas are defeated in a general
election: 1990
Revolution fails: some factors
• National coalition fails: different political
ideologies
• The business class opposition gains
momentum:
• Contra attacks(surrogate army financed by
the USA government) increase and
economic blockade is strengthened
People become unease about the
revolution
• Resources spent on military defense: erodes
credibility, food shortages
• Military draft: more death
• Represents an opportunity for the
opposition: Violeta Chamorro comes to
power: 1990
• The gains of the revolution start to be
dismantled
Causes of today’s poverty in
Central America
• “poverty is created by the exploitation of
the many by the few”
• System of dependency
Images from Central America
To look with critical eyes at the ways in which
Central American social and cultural realities are
perceived, discussed and portrayed by North
American governments and audiences
• Film One: Considering today’s readings, what is
wrong with the narrative of the National
Geographic film about Central America?
• Film Two: What are the main points raised by the
film “Only the News that Fits” with respect to
North American representations of Central
America’s social, economic and political realities?