small region, big history

Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua.
three countries that consecutively line the pacific ocean. three countries in a slim region, naturally endowed with abudant wildlife, volcanoes, lakes, beaches, waterfalls and jungles. an area that covers 600km from the top of Guatemala to the bottom of nicaragua. holds both the largest and smallest countries in the region and share a common border with honduras. 3 countries that have all struggled, to a greater extent, through a common trajectory in history. from indigenious living to colonial occupation. from popular uprisings to brutal repressions. from violent revolutions to external intervention. from communal farming to export controlled economies. from natural disasters to failed basic infrastructure.
many factors dictate as to why the three have developed so disparately.
Guatemala´s geography kept it the most preserved and secluded. its size alone, in relative to the region, makes it a geographic liability. its vast junlge in the NE, vocanic mountains in the SW, and barren landscape in between adds dificulty to conquerization.
Natives in nicaragua allied with vying european powers to expel the latters´ neighboring countries off their land.
El salvador holds a population that remains civically involved and politically engaged, constantly ripening their readiness for collective organization. they also had leaders who, in fear of the power the masses may yield, created deathsquads, exterminated thousands and commited massacres.
Nicaragua held revolutions in the streets, where armed civilians, so desperate for change, used guns to further their ideals. their adversary, the somozan dictator, was shot dead in Leon, before his son assumed control and succesfully managed the civil war by procuring military and finacial aid from one of america´s finest; ronald reagan.
he and his previous cronnies were also integral players in the formation of the neoliberal economic policies that created the the broad label of ´banana republics´, and of course the socio-economic system it rendered. this essentially involved large US and multinational coorporations buying, stealing, and cheating huge portions of land, in stark opposition to the good will of the public, to grow crops for export, more often than not bananas. these mono-agricultural systems exploit the land and its people, degrade the local enviornment, create malnutricious diets, and rampant capitalistic free-for-alls. many of the crops, such as wheat, sugar and corn, are not sold and consumed in their original, natural and, in moderation, healthy forms. they are instead refined, processed, preserved, bagged and canned into not food, but food products. the once nutritious crop is then transformed into an addictive and unhealthy export. these goods are cheap and easily transportable, and thus flood shopping aisles the world over, including central america.
what this means is that cooperations from the global north control crop yield. they collect produce and resources, that could otherwise be used to sustain local communities. they ship these goods to huge warehouses and factories, where the nutrition is sucked out, and in its place preservatives and chemicals are pumped back in. Wa-la: Coca cola, Dorritos and Big Macs.
so the banana repblics, under CAFTA and the politicians who crafted it, end up exporting natural resources at the expense of their people, land, environment, safety and wealth, and import diabetes, obesity and bad health. as the never ending greed for profits expands, more land is taken from the native population. inevitably, and rightfully so, the masses organize. they elect leaders who vow to redistribute land. the US cooporations, wary of this rising opposition, use money, power, influence and even nepotism to lobby to their chums in Washington. military and finacial aid suddenly funnels itself to the forces of the status quo. the ruling elite and thier agents use these funds to squash the prevailing voices of peasants, farmers, laborers, clerics, normal folk, and of course those damn intellectuals.
this is the common theme that has caused so much hardship in this region, so much civic turmoil, policital unrest and tumultuos history.
Guatemala: bananas, Nicaragua: coffee and bananas, El Salvador: coffee, sugar and bananas.
the differences in the three respective societies mike and i recognize as we travel thru.
Guatemala still has a thriving indigenious population. 60% of the people in fact, remain virtuously mayan, and continue to speak over 20 different mayan dialects. the mayan indigena mostly populate the western highlands, but are present in every guatemalan city from antigua to livingston. they have preserved thier food, language, clothing and culture suprisingly well. guatemala, like the rest of the region has endured its fair share of natural adversity. an earthquake in the 70´s contributed significantly to the escalation of civil war, as thousands more fled to the streets after being left homeless from the disaster.
El Salvador is much less traditional. a consumer driven society, fueled by remittances sent home from immigrants abroad, mostly in the DC area, has created the façade of a prosperous state. on paper, the reality is more bleak, as unemployment and poverty persist. money sent home is rarely invested for the future. instead of it being spent prudently on health, education and housing, remittances are thrown right back into the hands of wealthy CEO´s by consumer spending.
Nicaragua, we havnt yet fully figured out. it is the largest country in the region, also has the lowest population density. it is considered one of the poorest in the region as well. however, in general the people seem the most laid back, nonchalant and carefree. the first bus ride in Nica, where mike and i got our first impression of their people, and indeed was a quite accurate depiction, as the people laughed, joked and threw oranges at eachother. when you go to a comedor or a tienda here, you have to seek out the service to be served. it seems that they have little qualms with being one of the poorest states in the region, or on the other hand, have no interest in the materialsim that wealth breeds. but the low crime rate should attest for their congeniality.
more from nica to come.