GUATEMALA AND THE

HOMOGENIZING GLOBE:

A VIGNETTE ON

TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS

Bruce E. Bechto/*

• Bruce Bechlol is an Assislanl Professo r of Geography al Chico Slate Coll ege, Ch ico, Ca li fo rnia . As an M.A. ca nd idale al Ih e Un ive rsi ly of Oklahoma he was awa rded GTU's firsl nalional scho larship (1965) . Re­search fo r Ihis study and hi s docto rale was compl e led while he was Industrial Survey Advisor wilh the U. S. Agency fo r Inle rnal ional Deve lopmenl in the Republi c of Gu ate mala (1967-1 968). He received his Ph.D. al the Un ive rsity of O regon in 1969.

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Today revolutionary deeds and ideas are affecting much of the world. Hence changes come to existing cultures and ways of li fe, transformations of special consequence because they also bring fundamental modifications in man's relationship to his environment. As­suming these trends are inevitable, current mosaics of land and life are destined to yield to new forces. And, just possibly, the most dramatic chap­ters of man ' s d evelopment are presently being recorded with the revolutionary modification of more traditional societies.

What man does with the land he occupies largely depends on his cul­tural view of its use. l Human activities modify the original nature of the land and give it the cultural stamp of the society living on it. In this fashion cul­turallandscapes (manscapes?) are pro­duced. Yet, as the natural order of things is changed so is the cultural since time may bring further landscape modifications with the development of the occupying peoples or their dis­placement by new human groups.2 Re­gardless of the culture, though, one vehicle man employs to transform his environment is his economy-industry is an especially dynamic form of this vehicle .

Through diffusion, a cross-cultural transference of technological knowl­edge is taking place between the haves and the havenots of our world . But this is particularly paradoxical since, now

while the industrial nations are criti­cally reappraising the impact of tech­nology on their landscape, the aspiring nations are not. For the latter, "devel­opment" is the primary objective and the more esoteric problems of pollu­tion and destruction of the environ­ment are secondary considerations, at best. Thus, " development" brings in­dustry to the so-called under-devel­oped nations such as Guatemala.

A National Portrait

Guatemala, the northernmost of the six republics comprising Central Amer­ica, is a small country handicapped by limited natural and human resources (Map 1). Lying entirely within the gen­eral zone of the New World tropics, its physical landscape is characterized by great diversity within very short dis­tances. Available environments range from high cool mountains to steaming tropical lowlands. Most Guatemalans, nevertheless, prefer to live and work in the hi~hlands where altitude modifies the effects of tropical location.

With its approximately 4,500,000 in­habitants Guatemala is the most popu­lous of the Central American states. But the painful corollary to that dis­tinction is population explosion. The country's rate of population growth is one of the highest in the world-cur­rently about three per cent per annum. It remains to be seen whether this growing pool of humanity will prove to be an asset or liability. But, one hope is that these people can be put to work in labor-intensive industry and thereby raise the national level of economic output. However, the swelling popula­tion only tends to magnify the prob­lems of economic development and make any progress seem doubtful.3

Another problem is that of ethnic difference within the nation. Today, Guatemala is comprised of two major ethnic groups-one Indian and the other Ladino (non-Indian). The Indian

element is descended from pre-Co­lumbian aboriginal ancestors. They are people who have generally rejected Western culture and are, in terms of sheer numbers, the most typical hu­man component of the Republic. The Ladino portion of the population is representative of all those peoples who do not live like Indians. This seg­ment of Guatemalan society, a numeri­cal minority, is Occidental in outlook.

The pattern of human occupance in Guatemala was established shortly after the Spanish conquest and has been retained to this day. Traditionally the Indians have lived in dispersed rural settlements in the highest and coolest portions of the country. The Ladinos have generally occupied the tierra temp/ada (temperate land), con­centrating their numbers in the old Spanish political and administrative centers which were located in the "more' habitable" areas.4 As the La­dinos control the large urban centers which command the political and economic life of Guatemala, they also rule the state.s Consequently, the over­all culture is dominated by a ruling minority that loosely governs a large native populace-the Indian majority which in many respects stands aloof from any "outside" influences. Both groups, however, are being pulled into a vortex of " development" and "prog­ress" because of industrialization.

Workshops and Factories

In gross numbers Guatemala is a land of hundreds or even thousands of " industries." Yet, the overwhelming majority of these activities are really no more than backyard workshops, a production unit more typical of pre-in­dustrial society. Such small-scale manufacturers, categorized here as cottage industries but perhaps more appropriately termed subsistence manufacturers, characteristically func­tion with limited capital, hire few em-

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ployees, and provide goods primarily for sale in the immediate area of their production.

Cottage industries contribute little to the economic modernization of the nation. In fact, in terms of productiv­ity, one or two modern plants could easily replace all such activities in the output of any single commodity. And, indeed, this is happening as large new enterprises move into Guatemala's economic environment.

Since World War" capital intensive manufacturing, mass production, and the factory have been introduced to the Guatemalan landscape, but the blessings have been mixed. Certainly larger and more efficient concerns have evolved, investment in the indus­trial sector has increased, and employ­ment in manufacturing has expanded. But, because of this development the character of Guatemala's landscape is also becoming more like that of the industrialized parts of the world­something not necessarily "good."

Evidences of Change

A factory emitting smoke into the atmosphere or dumping toxic wastes into a nearby stream makes an obvious impact on the environment. Neverthe­less there are other influences exerted by industry that are not so bold but just as damaging to the landscape. There are the more subtle changes in land and people that tend to deepen in im­portance with passing time. Guatemala shows evidences of both extremes.

Destruction of the environment and degradation of the quality of life within it are perplexities everywhere in the world today. However, both condi­tions pose more of a threat when people lack concern or are not even aware that they shou ld be concerned ... the unfortunate case in most devel­oping nations such as Guatemala. One example of what can happen is evident in the production of cotton . This is an

important crop for Guatemala; with­out it many industries manufacturing food, chemicals, textiles, and clothing goods would be hard pressed to sur­vive. But, because of inadequate plan­ning (or no planning), the cotton in­dustry is endangering all life on the Republic's South Coast (Map 2) . The chemical industry is largely respon­sible.

No benchmark has yet been estab­lished for the use of insecticides in Guatemala's cotton zone. Paradoxical as it may seem, the person who deter­mines the amount .. poison used on the crops is frequently the pilot who flies the dusting plane-and he gets paid for every spray run he makes! Some of the consequences of this situ­ation are very clear but others are not. For example, great numbers of fauna have already disappeared from the South Coast and, indeed, there have even been human deaths in the vicin­ity because of insecticide. But it is also poss ible that this indiscriminate use of poison might have something to do with the recent appearance of a more hardy variety of mosquito in the area -a mosquito that has reversed initial successes in Guatemala's malaria con ­trol program. Further, the same water that irrigates the cotton f lows into many of the salinas (salt ponds) which provide the table sa lt for most Guate­malans. Once that is known, it is not difficult at all to conj ure up a picture of DDT pouring out of a saltshaker . .. it can happen.

Another vivid example of the impact of industrialization is evident in the highland community of Cabrican (Map 2) . Here, the u.s. Agency for Interna­tional Development sponsored the formation of an industrial co-operative to produce lime. As it developed, though, the lime manufacturing ven­ture took on all the appearances of a u.s. financed project to stimulate soil erosion. The slopes in this locale are

17

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steep, they are also mantled by vol­canic ash that is very susceptible to erosion. Native pines stabilize the soil but pine is also used as a fuel to bur~ lime from limestone rocks. The in­c.reased activity of the lime co-opera­tive has resulted in the removal of much of the pine cover on the moun­tain slopes surrounding Cabrican . Now, deep erosion scars mark the landscape where the trees once stood. After the pine is gone there will be no fuel for lime production ' however there won't be any soil for' agricultur~ either.

The less dramatic changes brought to Guatemala by industry do not jar the senses nearly as much as the poi­soned South Coast environment or the raped landscape of Cabrican. None­theless, these little things will probably have more of an impact on the land and the people. For example, through­out the Republic neighborhood bake shops have succumbed to competition from the mechanical bakeries in Gua­temala City- large plants producing great quantities of high-quality baked goods of all types. Shoe production has become almost entirely a factory operation as smaller shops have been forced into the role of repairing rather than manufacturing a product. Cheap but rugged ready-made clothes are gradually replacing colorful Indian cost~mes . And, more practical folding plastiC tablecloths have vi rtually de­stroyed the market for palm leaf rain­coats once produced in quantity on the South Coast. Entrepreneurs have rec~~nized and pressed thei r oppor­tunities-one illustration being the Czech manufacturer who designed a plastic water jug to match the style of the. pottery jugs already in use by the Indians. The new product is more du­rable, inexpensive, and colorful. More­over, it also has been accepted. Thus, little by little, industry erodes the tra­ditional way of life by supplanting it

with something new. Yet is such " prog­ress" prudent?

Telling It As It Is

On the surface most industrial in­duced modifications in their landscape appear acceptable to Guatemalans. Now they are not concerned for the loss of a few trees, a patch of soil a little DDT in their salt, or the ri se ' in malaria. The new factories provide a certain psychological uplift to the peo­ple-they are symbols of progress in a country where innovation has long been feared or reje ·ted. But change can also come too quickly. And, per­haps, this is the greatest danger tech­nological development offers to the Republic. If all the old values of the culture are submerged because of the acceptance of that which is new, much of the country's personality- the real Guatemala if you will . .. seems des­tined to be lost. Industry homogenizes the world and makes places more alike ; the issue is whether or not this is desirable.

Guatemalan nationalists realize that picturesque people and sleepy coun­trysides do not necessarily create via­ble nations. Foreign observers appreci­ate the scenery, but the Guatemalan's concern is for adequate food, shelter, and some assurance of a future. Cer­tainly the outsider finds the culture quaint but the bulk of the people are abysmally poor. If industry can help thes.e. folk, nationalists are willing to sacrifice colorful Indian costumes and pottery. In short, improvements in Guatemalan life are more important to its people than maintaining the country's charm. Aesthetically, none­theless, some landscape appeal is lost and another bit of world uniqueness is gone-something that is not easily re­placed.

(1 ) For expansion of this point see : David Lowenthal (ed.). Environmental Perception and Behavior, Re­search Paper No. 109, Department of Geography University of Chicago, 1967. '

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(2) Time and landscape change are major themes in : Carl O . Sauer, "The Morphology of landscape," Uni­versity 01 California Publications in Geography," Vol. 2, No.2, (1935) , pp . 19-53.

(3) There are both positive and negative views toward the role of latin America's rapidly growing popula­tion. A sampling of opinion would include : Kings­ley Davis (ed.) , " A Crowding Hemisphere : Popula­tion Change in the Americas," The Annals 01 the American Academy 01 Political and Social Science , Vol. 316 (1958), pp. 1-136; R. S. Smith, "Populations and Economic Growth in Central America ," Eco­nomic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. X, No. 2, Part I (1962). pp . 134-149; Alfonso Gonzalez, "Some Effects of Popu lation Growth on latin Ameri­ca's Economy:' Journal 01 Inter-American Studies, Vol. IX, No.1 (January, 1967). pp . 22-42; William Giandoni , " Some latins See a Plot Behind the Pill ," The Sacramento Union , February 1, 1969; and K. Mayone Stycos, Ideology, Faith and Population Growth in Latin America, Population Reference Bu-

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reau Selection No . 26 (1969). Population Reference Bureau, Washington, D.C.

(4) The Spanish mayor may not have been environ­mental determinists, but their sett lements were cer­tainly situated with an eye fo r strategic location. Most of Guatemala's colonial towns were established in places where Indian populations might be ex­ploited or at control points where trade could be more effectively monitored. Specific details for the development of town sites were spelled out by the Spanish Crown. See: Dan Stanis lawski, " Early Span­ish Town Planning in the New World," Geographical Review, Vol. 37 (1947), pp. 94-105.

(5) For more details on the role of the Ladinos in Gua­temalan society see : Richard N. Adams, La Ladiniza­cion en Guatemala , Seminario de Integracion Social Guatemalteca, Publicacion No.3 (1956) , Guatemala, C.A.; and Nathan l. Whetten, Guatemala: The Land and the People, Yale University Press, New Haven , 1961, pp. 44-81.