G–8 GLOSSARY
(Ñáñigos), under church protection, to resist
racism and preserve African cultural traditions.Narcobourgeoisie This describes wealthy and
powerful sectors of society, whose status de-
pends on the production, processing, and sale of
illegal drugs.
Narcocapitalism A political economic system
characterized by collaboration between the state
and private drug cartels that resort to bribery,
corruption, assassination, and terrorist threats
to accumulate signifi cant profi ts from the illicit
drug trade and reinvest them in legitimate busi-
ness enterprise.
Narcoterrorism This refers to the physical vio-
lence and intimidation that secures the property
and power of wealthy businesspeople who con-
trol the illegal drug industry.
Negrista An intellectual who participated in the
early-twentieth-century philosophical and liter-
ary movement that celebrated African cultural
contributions to Latin American societies.
Nueva Canción Literally “New Song,” a cultural
movement that swept across Latin America in
the 1960s, rejected the marketplace values of
modernity, and drew inspiration instead from
communal traditions linked to folk arts, music,
and crafts.
Obraje A primitive factory or workshop, espe-
cially for textile manufacture, often employing
convict or debt labor.
Oidor A judge of an audiencia.
Onderos Mexican youth, usually from the urban
middle class, who identifi ed with the new wave
of countercultural rebellion associated with
rock-’n’-roll music, social protest poetry, and
Latin American revolutionary movements in
the 1960s.
Ouvidor A royal judge who usually combined ju-
dicial and administrative duties (Brazil).
Pájaros Literally “birds,” this very unfl attering
slang word invoked images of male genitalia to
describe the thugs and assassins hired by the Co-
lombian government and landed oligarchs who
assaulted guerrilla veterans of the Violencia.
Palenques In Spanish America, the name given
to communities composed of African peoples
who had escaped enslavement and established
settlements, rooted in African cultural tradi-
tions, independent of Spanish royal control.
Pampas Vast, fl at plain in Argentina renowned
for its gaucho culture, it became the agricul-
tural heartland of southern South America.
Pardos Literally “browns,” the designation of
mixed-race peoples both in Spanish and Portu-
guese America.
Patria The fatherland.
Patriarchy A system of social authority that priv-
ileges masculinity and empowers men to exer-
cise dominion over women.
Patrón Master.
Patronato The “apprenticeship” period estab-
lished in Cuba between 1880 and 1886 to delay
the emancipation of enslaved Africans and their
descendants.
Patronato real The right of the Spanish crown to
dispose of all ecclesiastical offi ces.
Peninsular A person born of Spanish par-
ents in Spain and temporarily residing in the
Americas.
Peón An infantryman or, more generally, a per-
son of low social rank bound by tradition or law
to the service of others with higher rank.
Peso A monetary unit of eight reales.
Pinochetazo Originally used to describe the
brutal Pinochet dictatorship that overthrew a
democratically elected socialist government in
Chile, it also refers to any similarly bloody and
violent military coup d’état.
Piqueteros Unemployed workers in Argentina
who joined together to protest against neolib-
eral policies that produced poverty and social
injustice.
Pitucos The derisive and derogatory term used
by ordinary folk to describe wealthy people who
were accustomed to privilege and power.
Pobladores Urban slum dwellers who increas-
ingly became organized and active in populist