Writers' Portrayals of Peasantry in Latin America

Thurner describes the difficulties the nations of Latin America confronted as they moved away from colonial control toward a more free and egalitarian reality: "This contradiction meant that 'the great challenge facing [Creole patriots] was to obtain independence without unleashing a revolution'" (Thurner 3). In other words, in the Andean lands the major concern was finding that balance between postcolonial liberalization and social control.

The postcolonial powers would never opt for a freedom which could bring revolution, for to do so would be suici

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atin America, liberal leaders, who were typically white and upper class, had mixed feelings about "the people." . . . They considered indigenous people and their lands strictly a national problem, not a national asset (Chasteen 120). The concern of those in power in postcolonial reality, then, was the same concern of the colonialists themselves--how to stay in power. The intentions of the postcolonial government and elites may have been the best in the world, but the structure and economy of the postcolonial world were simply too fragile to put the needs of the poor people at the top of any list of realistic priorities. As a result, Chasteen argues, the hopes of the poor for postcolonial freedom and opportunity, for economic and sociopolitical integration, were dashed. Safford offers a bleak conclusion to his study of the view of those in power with respect to the fulfillment of the preceding hopes to the poor Indians of Colombia in the postcolonial era. He writes first that it is unlikely that the elites truly believed their land reform program for the Indians would meet with much success, for it called on the ability of the Indians to compete with wealthier landowners and agricultural interests. However, such competition wa
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Latin America, Indians Colombia, Latin American, Simon Bolivar, Spanish America, Ecuador Bolivia, Nevertheless Smith, Guatemala Smith, , Venezuela Colombia, poor masses, economic sociopolitical, latin america, poor indigenous, indigenous peasantry, liberal leaders, national unity, role poor indigenous, postcolonial world, conclusion study, andean lands, poor indigenous peasantry,
Approximate Word count = 1534
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)