Spanish Colonization in Peru, according to Mariátegui, failed because the Spanish colonizer failed to establish a strong economy by adjusting himself to the local economic environment or to adjust it to fit his needs. The Spanish brought with them their ideas of wealth, and did not take into account the properties of the resources available to them--the type and amount. One of the first mistakes was to deplete the land of its most valuable resource--the labor force. The Indians were essentially an agricultural people, but were being forced by the Spanish to work in mines. By forcing the former farmers and shepherds into the mines to do hard and dangerous work, the Spanish soon reduced its labor force substantially.
As a solution to the depleted labor force, the Spanish began to import slaves. The introduction of slavery into Peru weakened the society. Mariategui states, "Slavery is doomed to fail, both as a means of economic exploitation and organization of the colony as a reinforcement of a regime based only on conquest and force." At the same time, the colonizer gave up on assimilating the Indians, once thought possible by the conquistador. The economy of colonialism and oppression does not work. Centuries later, during the 19th century, a South American statesman said, "to govern is to populate," after observing the seeming desolate land. The Spanish neither used the strengths of the Indian community, nor did they successfully establish an efficient economy in its place. By not taking advantage of Peru's agricultural economy and not exchanging it for an equally strong economy, the Spanish failed to settle this once prosperous land.
Another reason colonization failed in Peru is, perhaps, explained by the type of colonizer in control. Unlike the colonizers who came to North America, who "planted the seeds of the spirit and economy" that was much like what was going on in Europe, the Spanish brought "an already declining spirit and an economy that belonged to the past." Jose Vasconcelos, a "philosopher who cannot be accused of too much Marxism or too little Hispanism," states that colonization failed in South America because of the presence of a monarchy. In South America, new land was often turned over to the monarchy which then redistributed it as a "reward [of] patriotic services" to "a nobility with double morals; a lackey of the sovereign and an insolent oppressor of the weak masses." The Spanish destroyed the indigenous agricultural economy by monopolizing the land. They contributed nothing to Peru, they only took from it. In North America, he explains, a large piece of land was divided according to a city plan and each individual lot was put up for public sale. There were provisions that prohibited one from buying up many pieces at once, and some land was set aside for public education, which was paid for by the value of the land. As the population grew, the land value increased. In South America the presence of a monarchy made this type of system impossible. The Spanish took the land, but did not use it to benefit the local population.
Mariátegui believes that the only true settlers sent to South America were the Jesuits and the Dominican missionaries. Both groups followed the traditions of monasteries in the Middle Ages who "preserve[d] the techniques of the arts and crafts, refining and elaborating materials; [which] later served as a basis for bourgeois industry" (41). The monks were put in a position that made it easy for them to engage in capitalist activities. They received many donations from the wealthy, and lived a frugal life. But according to Georges Sorel, a modern economist, the Benedictines stopped being capitalist workers and became more interested the wealthy leisure of the countryside. The monks may have been the only true colonizers, but even that way of life declined, leaving Peru without successful settlement.
Those in power in Peru are ignoring the internal failures of the economy, and seeking foreign dependence; they are maintaining the colonial system, rather than using the strengths of the people and diverse culture to find their independence. Peru is presently continuing many of the patterns that lead colonialism to its doom. The indigenous people of Peru are still treated as cheap labor. "[The land owner]... considers his latifundium to be outside the jurisdiction of the state and he disregards completely the civil rights of the people who live within his property. He collects excise taxes, grants monopolies, and imposes sanctions restricting the liberty of the laborers and their families. Within the hacienda, transportation, business, and even customs are controlled by the landlord. And frequently the huts that he rents to the laborers do not differ greatly from the sheds that formerly served as slave quarters." The best lands and coastal valleys are planted not with food, but with cotton and sugar cane intended for export. "The Peruvian economy has clearly and urgently called for the country to grow enough wheat for the bread of its people. If this had been accomplished, Peru would no longer have to pay twelve or more million soles a year to foreign countries for the wheat consumed in its coastal cities." The Peruvian economy is still ignoring the Peruvian people for the sake of supplying cheap materials to wealthier nations.
Peru could move further away from colonialism, which keeps the country weak, toward independence by adapting its present system to allow the strengths of indigenous people to flourish. While Peru depends on foreign trade, wealthier countries can influence Peru's governmental and economic policies. The natives of Peru have not been absorbed into the now dominate society in a beneficial way. By allowing them to pursue their own system of economy, a communal agricultural system, the indigenous people would become self-sufficient. Transferring land to the "communities" would stimulate Peru's internal economy, and move her economically and socially farther away from colonialism and dependence on foreign trade. Therefore, Peru would be freer to develop its own ideals. The "communities" could supply all the food that they need, as well as some food for the rest of the country, making Peru less dependent on foreign food markets.
Efforts to colonize Peru failed because the Spanish exhausted the labor force, and neglected the development of a unique Peruvian economy. Peru perpetuates these failing colonial patterns by neglecting its indigenous economy. The culture and agricultural systems of the Indians can contribute new ideas and new solutions to the country's problems. Peru cannot move away from colonialism while it oppresses and ignores part of its society. By giving the Indians land on which they can pursue their cultural and economic ways of life, they will gain a political voice. "The Indian community is still a living organism and that, within the hostile environment that suffocates and deforms it, it spontaneously shows unmistakable potentialities for evolution and development" ( 56). The "community" can adapt and find a spot in Peru where it can thrive and prosper. Through allowing its indigenous cultures to contribute to its development, Peru could distance itself from its unsuccessful and immoral colonial past, and move toward independence.
Return to Syllabus