GLOSSARY G–5
Fazendeiro The owner of a fazenda.
Federalism The political philosophy that State
power should be broadly disseminated among
local and provincial rather than centralized na-
tional governments.
Feudalism A social system based on custom, re-
ligious tradition, and birthright, the principal
characteristics of which were (1) production for
use rather than exchange value, (2) social im-
mobility, and (3) a three-tiered class hierarchy
that included aristocratic nobility, merchants
and artisans, and peasant serfs.
Fincas Literally “farms,” this refers typically to
the large coffee plantations that monopolized
agricultural lands in Central America and ren-
dered the region dependent on foreign exports.
Finqueros The oligarchical owners of coffee
plantations who dominated Central American
societies in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries.
Fresas Literally “strawberries,” the derisive slang
name commonly used by Mexican working-
class youth to describe wealthy, fresh-faced,
light-skinned kids who were born to privilege.
Fueros Special privileges granted to military offi -
cers, church offi cials, and others that exempted
them from civil legal proceedings.
Gamonal A local, rural political boss who often
used physical violence, fraud, and corruption
to despoil indigenous peoples of their ancestral
lands in Peru; also used to describe a system of
rural control exercised by large landowners,
local government offi cials, and the clergy in
Colombia.
Gross domestic product (GDP) The total annual
value of domestically produced goods and ser-
vices, excluding income from foreign invest-
ments and overseas remittances.
Gross national product (GNP) The total an-
nual value of goods and services, including in-
come from foreign investments and overseas
remittances.
Growth A process through which a nation maxi-
mizes the production and utilization of its re-
sources, usually measured against standards
that include the gross national product, the
gross domestic product, foreign direct invest-
ment, and balance of payments.
Guachibales Indigenous religious brotherhoods
that aimed to maintain cultural identities; defend
their autonomy; and preserve communal cus-
toms, ancestral languages, and religious rituals.
Guajiros The racially mixed Cuban peasants who
either owned small plots that produced basic
subsistence or exchanged their labor on sugar
plantations for a share of the crop and access to
small subsistence plots.
Guano In Peru, the accumulated deposits of bird
feces rich in nitrates, which became a highly
profi table raw material for natural, commercial
fertilizers greatly demanded in Europe’s increas-
ingly infertile agricultural lands.
Guerra sucia Literally “dirty war,” this refers to
offi cial acts of state terrorism conducted by the
military and paramilitary forces against social
movements that represented the interests of
workers, peasants, students, and indigenous
communities throughout Latin America during
the 1970s and 1980s.
Hacendado The owner of a hacienda.
Hacienda A large landed estate.
Hegemony A system of sociopolitical power in
which the dominant authority secures its com-
mand through a combination of physical coer-
cion, threats of violence, and a coherent ideology
that encourages the “spontaneous consent” of
subaltern peoples who voluntarily defer to their
social superiors.
Hermandad Literally “brotherhood,” this de-
scribes a military association, originally organ-
ized by autonomous towns to defend their
independence against manorial lords and the
crown.
Hidalgo A member of the hidalguía or lower no-
bility of Spain and colonial Spanish America.
Hidalguía See Hidalgo.
Hoyos fonquis Literally “funky holes,” this
describes the urban “raves” or clubs where