The chronicler of the Indies tells us that on the island of Cuba at the beginning of the 16th century, the cacique Hatuey gathered his people together to discuss the arrival of the Spaniards and the news of the cruelties that they had perpetrated on the island of Hispaniola. Hatuey asked, &dquo;Do all of you understand why the Europeans are enslaving and killing us?&dquo; &dquo;Because they are cruel and evil,&dquo; they replied. Hatuey responded, &dquo;It is not just for that reason but also because they have a god whom they worship and love very much.&dquo; Then he picked up a piece of gold and added, &dquo;This is the god of the Christians.&dquo;The brave cacique fought valiantly against the usurpers of his lands and the destroyers of his country. In the end he was captured and condemned to die at the stake. While he was awaiting death, a Franciscan monk told him that if he accepted the Catholic faith he would go to heaven, where he would find eternal peace, but if he did not, he would be sent to hell and eternal damnation. Hatuey asked, &dquo;Do Christians also go to heaven?&dquo; The monk replied that the good ones did. The cacique responded that he wanted to go to hell, where there would not be any Spaniards. &dquo;This is the fame and honor,&dquo; the chronicler laments, &dquo;that God and our holy faith have won for the Christians who have gone to the Indies&dquo; (Las Casas, 1989: 46-47).This was the general perception in Indian communities of the process of colonization going on at that time, and today's Indians have not changed their perception. Apart from its enormous historical tactlessness, any celebration of the conquest as a heroic civilizing feat would constitute an unforgivable offense against contemporary indigenous peoples. A &dquo;black legend&dquo;? Perhaps. In any case, setting aside all the interested interpretations of events that were made at the time, I agree with those historians who argue that the so-called black legend accurately and objectively reflects those events. The conquered could hardly accept the evange-Hector Diaz-Polanco is a Mexican anthropologist associated with the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social in Mexico City. John F. Uggen is a professor of foreign languages at
A. Pinochet created an economic situation in Chile characterized by increasing misery for the poorest sectors of the population and increasing wealth for the upper-class elite (20 percent of the Chilean population receives 60 percent of the wealth and income, while 40 percent of the population receives only 11 percent), a reconcentration of private property, a reduction in social welfare spending, and a huge foreign debt. Of all the sectors in Chilean society, the lower class has been the hardest hit, with women being the most severely affected. In this article I will examine the consequences for women of the political and economic measures implemented by the hegemonic sectors of Chilean society. My purpose is to point out how, in these adverse circumstances, women have organized and developed strategies for opposing these hegemonic sectors that, at the same time, have helped them to increase their level of awareness and public participation, thus enabling them to play a primary role in the struggle against the dictatorship. In considering the various women's groups that have emerged in Chile since the coup d' etat of 1973, I will focus on the factors that have made it possible for a large number of women to organize, the composition of the various groups, their impact on the development and self-awareness of the women themselves, their effect on the popular movement, alliances and contradictions among the different groups, the changes that have occurred as a result of the redemocratization process, and, finally, the prospects for the women's movement under the elected government.This work is a contribution to the study of recent popular struggles in Latin America and the Caribbean and women's participation in these struggles. The triumph of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua and the spread of other at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on
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