Week 6
So as the focus of our discussions strays from talk of liberation and how people would go about forming their government to this week, how people were actually living and how their governments were performing in the grand scheme of things, we start to see the many flaws in society as a whole and how not everyone was being treated equally or fairly for that matter. During the mid 19th century, the majority of Latin American citizens lived in rural areas, with a select minority living in the major cities like Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Lima. Life in the country side was allegedly very difficult with the vast majority of countryside workers getting forced into massive debt. This in turn, severely limited rural folks representation from a political and economic standpoint.
In contrast to the poor, under represented workers of rural communities were the Gauchos or cowboys of Argentina. I found it very interesting, the vastly different lifestyles the workers of this day and age had. Gauchos were nomadic, rebel fighters that fought against the Spanish. Gauchos flourished during the mid 18th to mid 19th centuries. I also found it interesting how they were able to maintain a degree of freedom for a time, due to their high demand skill set.
Interesting stuff about Gauchos! It kind of sounds like they could have straddled a line between citizen and Caudillo due to their ferocity and rebellious behaviour, as well as their location far from the cities.
I agree, Latin America was now focused in creating a new society but it seemed to be completly flawed, instead of keep moving forward and trying to give rights equally society tended once aain to discriminate and cathegorize themselves.