The Legacy of Mesoamerica History and Culture of a Native American Civilization, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 7 MESOAMERICANS IN THE NEOCOLONIAL ERA 277

Figure 7.6 Porfirio Díaz,

mestizo caudillo and

liberal dictator of Mexico.

James A. Magner, Men of

Mexico,2nd ed. Salem,

N.H.: Books for Libraries,

Ayer Company Publishers,

1968.

led a massive movement against the liberals. He was supported not only by poor mes-
tizos from the eastern part of the country but also by tens of thousands of Mayan In-
dians from the western highlands (Figure 7.7). The Carrera rebellion led to thirty
years of conservative rule in Guatemala, which in turn elicited relative peace from the
Indians. Finally, in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the caudilloJusto Rufino
Barrios was able to reestablish liberal rule in Guatemala, and this change again
touched off widespread native rebellions in that country as well as similar conflicts
in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
The dramatic liberal programs introduced by Barrios and other dictators in Cen-
tral America have been hailed by many as laying the foundation for nationhood in
the region. However, from the perspective of the Mesoamerican Indians, these