Enclosed: Conservation, Cattle, and Commerce Among the Q’eqchi’ Maya Lowlanders

1. Liberal Plunder: A Recurring Q’eqchi’ History

29 1 Liberal Plunder A Recurring Q’eqchi’ History Pilar Ternera let out a deep laugh, the old expansive laugh that ended up a cooing of doves. There was no mystery in the heart of a Buendía that was impenetrable for her because a century of cards and experience had taught her that the history of the family was a machine with unavoidable repetitions, a turning wheel that would have gone on spinning into eternity were it not for the progressive and irremediable wearing of the axle. —Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude Progress, far from consisting of change, depends on retentiveness. . . . Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. —George Santayana, The Life of Reason, vol. 1 O n a recent flight to Guatemala, seated to my left were two middleaged gringos dressed in overalls who appeared to be on a volunteer trip to build a church. In front of me was a group of young men with military haircuts planning some kind of expedition; in fact, “kaibiles,” soldiers from Guatemala’s special operations force, met them at the airport’s baggage claim. Seated behind were a couple of businessmen intently discussing strategies for the newly privatized telecommunications system in Guatemala. Like the recurring characters in García Marquez’s epic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, my three sets of neighbors on this plane seemed like a reincarnation of the original Spanish invaders—missionaries, military conquistadores, and colonial officials. As the conquistador Bernal Diaz once described it, their goals were “to 30 Liberal Plunder bring light to those in darkness, and also to get rich, which is what all of us men commonly seek” (quoted in Farriss 1984: 29). Regardless of which outsiders happen to hold power, the everyday lived experiences of Maya people have changed little (ibid.). Indeed, for the average Q’eqchi’ farmer, the experience of dispossession has been remarkably consistent over the epochs. Through multiple conquests in the name of God (Christianity), gold (commerce), and glory (civilization) (Hecht 1993), outsiders have repeatedly sought to enclose Q’eqchi’ territory, not only for the value of its fertile land, but also for the corollary control of the labor of its people (Taracena 2002). These interlopers consolidated and replicated their agrarian power during the three key moments in Guatemalan history preceding neoliberalism that are described in this chapter— colonialism, Liberalism, and developmentalism1 (table 2). While the repetitive nature of these multiple histories of enclosure may make them seem inevitable in retrospect, Q’eqchi’ people also repeatedly resisted their dispossession. First Enclosure: Conquest by Christianity Before the Spanish conquest, Q’eqchi’ people likely lived around a 1,500-meter altitude in the elongated valleys between (present-day) Tactic and San Crist óbal and between Cobán and San Pedro Carchá. Located in a strategic zone between the northern lowland forests, the Atlantic ocean, and the densely populated western Guatemalan highlands, Q’eqchi’ people took advantage of their geography by working as highland-to-lowland traders from at least the early Classic period (300–600) (Wilk 1997). Early writings by Spanish conquerors comment on Q’eqchi’ involvement in long-distance commerce in cotton, chocolate , and annatto (Bixa orellana), and other forest and agricultural products, all of which traveling Q’eqchi’ merchants (“Cobanero” salesmen) continue to trade today. Little else is known about precolonial Q’eqchi’ political organization except that it was less hierarchical than more powerful city-states such as those ruled by the K’iche’ and other western highland groups; this may help explain why the Spanish found the Q’eqchi’ so difficult to conquer. By the 1530s, the Spanish had established dominion over most of Guatemala except for territories belonging to the “unconquerable” Lacandón, Acalá, Mopán, Itzá, Manché Ch’ol, Pocomchi’, and Q’eqchi’ peoples (fig. 1.1).2 Spanish conquest broke down these boundaries—either through forced resettlement or through mutual Maya resistance and flight—and leveled America’s diverse mosaic of civilizations into a single category of rural “Indians” (Bonfil Batalla 1996). The people perceived to be “the Q’eqchi’” today were clearly influenced by their cultural and Epoch Political Economy Rough Periodization Integration Mechanisms of Enclosure Colonialism Mercantilism Conquest (1523 or thereabouts) to independence from Spain in 1821 Localized, municipal control Royal allotment of land to the conquerors for tribute collection and labor extraction Liberalism Rise of agricultural bourgeoisie and export-led capitalism...