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‘Guatemala Will Never Change’: Radical Pessimism and the Politics of Personal Interest in the Western Highlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2011

NICK COPELAND
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Abstract

This article examines how neoliberal multicultural governance shapes the political imaginaries and practices of rural indigenous Guatemalans in the town of San Pedro Necta. Decades of counter-insurgency warfare have displaced radical politics into sanctioned forms of ethnic empowerment, memory and development, but most indigenous sampedranos have maintained radical investments. Persistent political violence, stalled reforms and clientelist favouritism undermined multicultural inclusion, development and optimism regarding the 1996 peace accords, and weakened community autonomy. The resulting mix of pessimism, unmet needs and divisionism has discouraged progressive politics and normalised political disengagement and, increasingly, self-interested affiliations with multiple conservative parties, including corrupt authoritarian populists implicated in genocide.

Spanish abstract

Este artículo examina cómo la gobernabilidad neoliberal multicultural da forma a imaginarios políticos y prácticas de los indígenas rurales guatemaltecos en el poblado de San Pedro Necta. Décadas de conflicto y contrainsurgencia desplazaron formas políticas radicales hacia formas permitidas de empoderamiento étnico, de memoria y de desarrollo, pero la mayoría de los indígenas sanpedranos mantuvieron sus posiciones radicales. El optimismo generado por los acuerdos de paz de 1996, por el multiculturalismo y por los nuevos proyectos de desarrollo fue socavado por la continuada violencia política y el favoritismo clientelista que erosionó la autonomía comunitaria. La resultante mezcla de pesimismo, de necesidades insatisfechas y de divisionismo desestimuló el desarrollo de políticas progresistas y normalizó el desenganche político. Al mismo tiempo, se fueron consolidando afiliaciones de auto-interés con múltiples partidos conservadores, incluso populistas autoritarias y corruptos implicados en el genocidio.

Portuguese abstract

Examina-se como a governança multicultural neoliberal lapida os imaginários e as práticas políticas de guatemaltecos indígenas rurais na cidade de San Pedro Necta. As décadas do conflito e contra-insurgência deslocaram políticas radicais hacia formas sancionadas de empodeiramento, memória e desenvolvimento étnico, porém a maioria dos indígenas de San Pedro mantiveram investimentos posturas radicais. O otimismo relacionado aos acordos de paz de 1996, o multiculturalismo e os novos projetos de desenvolvimento foram corroídos por violência política contínua e por favoritismo clientelista que sabotou a autonomia comunitária. A mistura resultante de pessimismo, demandas não realizadas, e divisionismo desincentivou as políticas progressistas e normalizou o desengajamento político. Se consolidaram afiliações baseadas em interesses pessoais com múltiplos partidos conservadores, incluindo populistas autoritários implicados no genocídio.

Keywords

GuatemalaMayademocracyneoliberal multiculturalismthe stateindigenous politicspolitical imaginariesmulticulturalismo neoliberalEstadopolíticas indígenasimaginarios políticosGuatemalademocraciamulticulturalismo neoliberalo Estadopolíticas indígenasimaginários políticosGuatemalademocracia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , August 2011 , pp. 485 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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49 The UNE won the presidential elections in San Pedro in 2007, but the conservative Unión Democrática (Democratic Union, UD) won the mayoral elections.

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52 Many specifically oppose the efforts of human rights advocates that they feel ‘let criminals free’. Other conceptions of human rights are widely supported.

53 Nelson, Reckoning.

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55 See ‘San Pedro Necta rechazó la minería’, available at www.inforpressca.com/municipal/boletin/141-3.htm.

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