1871 - Liberal Revolution
Guatemala, like the rest of the countries of Latin origin, inherited the vices and the defects of the Mother Country, and since its emancipation the political system adopted by its people was of the same character as that followed by the old dominant regime — that is, an absolute government supported by bayonets to maintain and perpetuate privileged coteries and the aristocratic class which exploited the natives and forced them to labor like serfs; and this infamous method of governing a people, which had just emerged from the colonial yoke, was called Conservatism; that party exercised its dismal influence until 1871, when the Liberal Party sprang triumphantly into being and inaugurated the Revolution which had brought a new era of liberty, progress and civilization.
The contest between the two political parties became then intense; the advanced element struggled to establish the desired reforms, while the retrograde faction, though already defeated, still maintained its resistance supported by the fanatical grip of old traditions which would maintain the laws of semifeudalism, the franchises, the influence of prominent families, and the prerogatives of church and clergy; the latter was rich in worldly possessions and owned the people's conscience through their ignorance and superstition.
After the Liberal victory Miguel García Granados served as provisional president from 1871 to 1873, but he in effect shared power with Justo Rufino Barrios, who was elected to succeed him. Barrios served as president from 1873 until his death in 1885. The “ Great Reformer,” as he was known, had no problem securing his reelection by vote of a constituent assembly in 1876 and by popular vote in 1880 (the electorate at the time consisting of between 35,000 and 40,000 people, a tiny fraction of the national population). His domination of the country was virtually absolute and would have lasted longer had he not died in battle, pursuing the chimera of Central American unification.
Apart from the doomed attempt to restore Central American unity, the main themes of the administration of Barrios were a staunch anti clericalism and a strenuous attempt to promote economic development. In both respects, Barrios was following established Liberal doctrine. Subsidiary themes of his administration were the expansion of public education and the remodeling of constitutional arrangements according to liberal principles. The constitution adopted under his influence, the country's third, lasted with only minor amendments for 66 years after its adoption in 1879, although it was more frequently honored in the breach than in the observance. The constitution guaranteed individual rights and liberties, separated church and state. and provided for popular election of the president, the unicameral legislature, and judges.
Barrios' anticlerical measures were far reaching. The Jesuits were expelled, and convents and monasteries were suppressed. Civil marriage was reinstituted and education taken out of the hands of the church. Priests were forbidden to teach or to wear clerical garb on the streets. Most important, church properties were expropriated; bishops who opposed the measures were exiled. The expropriation and sale of church lands, as well as certain other measures of economic policy taken under Barrios. were related to major changes taking place in the economic and social structures. As the population grew. so did the urban middle class of merchants. profes sionals, and civil servants, some of mixed ancestry. Eager to acquire wealth, these growing middle-class elements were confronted with the fact that the basis of wealth in Guatemala was the ownership of land, and land either was retained by Indian villages or was monopolized by old landowning families and the church. The long-standing principle of Liberalism - anticlericalism — thus implied not only greater intellectual freedom but also access to lands and thus to wealth.
A second development of significance was the reorientation of Guatemala's exports. The leading exports up to and during the first half of the nineteenth century had been indigo and other dyes. such as cochineal. Thus, the invention in Europe of cheap chemical dyes under mined the country's principal source of wealth and called for a major shift in its agricultural patterns. Cattle continued to be important, but the export crops of the future appeared to be sugar, cotton. and coffee.
Expanding markets for these products reflected the growth in population and in affluence in Western Europe and North America. The markets for the most promising new crop. coffee, were founded principally in the United States and Germany. The British tended to drink tea, and the French grew coffee in their tropical colonies. The resulting promotion of coffee culture by the Barrios government had several significant social consequences. One was that the older landholding class was opened up to newer, urban -based elements, who were able to secure former church lands on easy terms. Another con sequence was that numerous Germans emigrated to Guatemala to grow coffee, especially in the province of Alta Verapaz. German families settled in the country and intermarried with Guatemalans, a process described by one Guatemalan writer as “ putting a little milk in the coffee." By 1914 about half of all Guatemalan coffee was grown on German-owned lands. and Germany bought more than one-half of the country's production. During and after World War I sales overseas had to be diversified; the proportion shipped to the United States increased gradually at first, but during the 1930s the United States became Guatemala's main market. The United States took 22 percent of Guatemala's coffee crop in 1934, 40 percent in 1935, and 60 percent in 1936.
The other major social change brought about by the expansion of coffee cultivation was the de facto reenslavement of the Indians. During the initial period of European occupation. Indians had been left with the less valued hillsides on which to grow their corn. Coffee grows best on hillsides, however, and the period of the expansion of coffee culture was also one of great dispossession of the Indians. This occurred in various ways. Laws expropriating church lands were sometimes applied against Indians who farmed lands owned by the church. A decree of 1877 provided for the sale of lands owned by local governments, much of which had been leased by Indians. Communally held lands were sold at auction. Sometimes Indians were dispossessed from ancestral lands deemed suitable for coffee culture and compensated with an equivalent area of unoccupied lowland.
Indians were disadvantaged not only by the loss of their land but also by harsh new labor laws that were designed to force them to work on the coffee plantations. In 1877 peonage for debt was legalized. Loans were extended to Indians, who were required by law to work off the loan with their labor. Low wage rates meant the Indian could not repay the original loan ; in fact, he went deeper into debt because he had to borrow more to pay for his necessities. These debts were heritable. so that a new kind of serfdom was created. Moreover, a vagrancy law adopted in 1878 provided that the “unemployed” had to work 40 days a year on public works projects.
On the basis of these measures, Barrios was able to build up the country's economic infrastructure. Railroad lines were extended. and electricity was brought to Guatemala City, along with telegraph and telephone installations. Roads were built and ports improved. Unused land was opened up, and special incentives were given for the pro duction not only of coffee but also of other export products. such as cotton. rice, quinine, rubber, cacao. and sarsaparilla. A national banking system was developed.
Education was a major emphasis of Barrios. He established the Ministry of Public Instruction and founded schools at all levels for children of both sexes and for Indians as well as ladinos. Public funds were not adequate, however, to enable him to meet his goal of universal. free, and compulsory schooling for all children between the ages of 6 and 14.
Taking up the cause of Central American union again in 1885, Justo Rufino Barrios attempted to coerce the other, recalcitrant states of the former federation but was killed in battle in El Salvador shortly after organizing a unification army. After a brief interregnum Manuel Lisandro Barillasa became provisional president and then in 1885 was elected by the legislature to a six-year term. Barillas did not seek to extend his term of office. but he presided over a genuinely competitive election in which the great Liberal scholar Lorenzo Montúfar was defeated by Barrios' nephew, José María Reyna Barrios. Reyna Barrios ran a developmentalist Liberal regime in the tradition of his uncle. but he attempted to extend his term illegally by dissolving the legislature and establishing a dictatorship. Reyna Barrios put down a revolt against his coup.
By means of rigorous measures, sternly executed, President Barrios succeeded in subduing the rebellion which waged during the autumn of 1897. In order to obtain the necessary means for these operations, president demanded large loans from the commercial houses and men of wealth, who were very considerably affected by the disturbance of public peace. One of these wealthy gentlemen, Don Juan Aparicio, the largest coffee merchant in the republic, and a leader in Guatemalan financial circles, disapproved of the manner in which President Barrios had managed the bond issues and the financial affairs of the republic. When the rebellion took shape he expressed his sympathy with its avowed objects, and refused to contribute to the government in aid of the operations against the rebels. As a result, he was seized by the military governor, and shot, in accordance with a threat that he should be killed if the rebel generals Morales and Fuentes did not desist from their attack on Quezaltenango, where he was detained.
On February, 8, 1898, President José Maria Reina Barrios was shot while walking near his palace, surrounded by guards. The assassin, Zollinger, had been for many years a trusted employé of Sr. Aparicio, and had sworn to avenge his master's execution. Whether other motives for the deed existed, was not certain. For many months, the opponents of Barrios had offered publicly a reward of $100,000 to any one who would kill the president. It was by no means unlikely that Zollinger may have acted in behalf of a powerful secret organization which was apparently striving to destroy the concert among the Central American republics, which had begun to take definite shape in the so-called "Greater Republic." Zollinger was killed by the president's guards, before he could make his escape.
Vice-president Estrada Cabrera immediately assumed the administration of affairs, and no effort appeared to have been made to take advantage of the assassination. A decree of general amnesty was issued, which was taken advantage of to a limited extent. A few of the professional opponents of the government party made some show of opposing Sr. Cabrera, but without success.
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