GLOSSARY G–3
in colonial Spanish America by permitting
mixed-race peoples to purchase legal titles to
whiteness.Charango A traditional musical instrument sim-
ilar to a guitar, combining the technologies of
Spanish and indigenous peoples, who originally
used the shell of an armadillo to construct it.
Charrismo The practice in Mexico of organizing
offi cial “company” unions that represented the
State’s interests and employers far more effec-
tively than rank-and-fi le workers.
Chicha Originally a type of beer made from corn
and common among Andean indigenous com-
munities; later became the slang name for a
new musical genre pioneered by recent mi-
grants who combined highland indigenous
sounds with urban electronic instruments and
rock-and-roll rhythms.
Chinampa A garden or piece of arable land re-
claimed from a lake or pond by dredging up soil
from the bottom and piling it on a bed of wicker-
work (Mexico).
Cholo Term used to describe socially mobile peo-
ple of indigenous descent who observe Spanish
cultural traditions.
Científi co A policymaker in the government
of Mexico’s Porfi rio Díaz (1876–1911) who
believed in the “science” of positivism, racist
doctrines of white supremacy, and national eco-
nomic modernization based on private property
and foreign investment.
Clientelismo A system of patronage in which
powerful leaders secure popular support by dis-
tributing favors, ranging from monetary bribes
to jobs.
Cofradía A religious brotherhood, originally in-
digenous; sodality.
Colegio A college or school.
Colonos Sharecroppers who typically worked the
fi elds of plantation owners in exchange for the
right to cultivate a small parcel of hacienda land
to produce subsistence crops.
Compadrazgo Spanish cultural institution of
godparents, which expanded aristocrats’ patri-
archal power by establishing dependent kinship
relationships with lower-class families.
Compadrio Portuguese version of compadrazgo.
Composición A settlement legalizing title to
usurped land through payment of a fee to the
king.
Comuneros Indigenous peasant villagers who
defended (or sought to reconstitute) ancient
claims to ancestral communal lands.
Comunidad de base Grassroots community or-
ganization rooted in Catholic religious tradi-
tions informed by liberation theology.
Concertaje In Colombia, a mandatory appren-
ticeship program that placed “freed” slaves in
service to their previous masters until the age of
twenty-fi ve.
Congregación Resettlement of scattered indig-
enous populations to facilitate Christianization
and the collection of tribute.
Consulado A merchant guild and a tribunal of
commerce during the colonial period.
Contras The name used to describe a diverse
group of counterrevolutionary terrorist organ-
izations fi nanced, trained, and equipped by the
Reagan administration, with the objective of
forcibly overthrowing the Sandinista revolu-
tionary regime during the 1980s.
Contribución de indígenas Head tax levied on
indigenous peoples both by Spanish royal of-
fi cials during the colonial period and by creole
republican governments in the early nineteenth
century.
Conversos Converted Spanish Jews or their
descendants.
Coronéis Especially after 1870, the coroneis were
political bosses, usually wealthy merchants,
infl uential lawyers, or priests. The title coronel
(Portuguese for “colonel”) was often honorary
and did not necessarily indicate a military com-
mand or land ownership. Coronéis is the plural
form of coronel.
Corporatism A state-centered political economic
system in which representation is allocated to