The Indigenous Cultures: Maya and Aztec

The Maya are one of the best studied major pre-Colombian native American civilizations. The Maya were a much older civilization then the Aztecs or the Incas. The Maya first appear in the Yucatan Peninsula about 2600 B.C. They became a civilization of major importance about 250 AD in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize. Unlike the Aztecs, the Maya were not a centralized imperial state. Their virtually independent city states were connected by extensive trade routes. The Maya show evidence of assimilating the technology and culture of previous civilizations which had developed to the north in modern Mexico, especially the Olmecs. The Maya are especially noteworthy for their achievements in astronomy, mathematics, accurate calendars, hieroglyphics, and architecture. Mayan hieroglyphics, probably of Olmec origins, was the most sophisticated writing system in Meso-America.

The Mayan architectural heritage is especially impressive. Many sites in the Yucatán and northern Central America include temple-pyramids, palaces, and observatories. The Maya especially venerated the jaguar and built temple-pyramids to the being they saw as the Lord of the Underworld. As with the other Meso-American civilizations, these edifices were built without metal tools, beasts of burden, or even the wheel. Mayan agriculture was also advanced, using methods such as storing rainwater in underground reservoirs to deal with the limited available groundwater. The Maya were accomplished weavers and potters. The Spanish encountered the Maya centuries after their classical era, unlike the Aztec who were in their ascendancy. The decline of the Maya is one of the great mysteries in archeology. There are numerous theories. Increasingly archaeologists are coming to believe that the decline was a more gradual process than was once thought. The process appears to have involved expanding populations which required overcultivation of available land resulting in declining yields that could not support dense populations.

The Aztec Empire was the last of the great Mesoamerican cultures. Between A.D. 1345 and 1521, the Aztecs forged an empire over much of the central Mexican highlands and south to what is now Guatemala. Millions paid tribute to the Aztec ruler, Montezuma II, prior to the Spanish Conquest. The center of the empire was an island in Lake Texcoco, now the site of Mexico City. The Aztecs became fierce warriors and skillful diplomats. Throughout the late 1300s and early 1400s, the Aztecs began to grow in political power. By the last half of the 15th century, they dominated the surrounding areas, reaping a rich bounty in tribute. Thirty-eight provinces sent tribute regularly in the form of rich textiles, cacao beans, maize, cotton, salt, honey, and slaves for human sacrifice. Human sacrifice was an important part of the culture and religion. Not only for slaves and those taken as hostages in war, but also for children and Aztec nobles; Giving one’s life in sacrifice to the gods was considered the highest honor. The Aztec Empire was powerful, wealthy and rich in culture, architecture and the arts. The Spanish entered the scene in 1519 when Cortes landed on the shore. They were at first welcomed by Montezuma II, but Cortes soon took the emperor and his advisors’ hostage. Though the Aztecs managed to throw the conquistadors out of Tenochtitlan, the Spanish regrouped and made alliances with the Aztec’s greatest enemy, the Tlaxcalans. They returned in 1521 and conquered Tenochtitlan, razing the city to the ground and destroying the Aztec empire in the process.

A Banana Republic

In political discussions the term “Banana Republic” is often used. Where did it come from and what does it refer to? It refers to Central America!

In 1871, U.S. railroad entrepreneur Henry Meiggs signed a contract with the government of Costa Rica to build a railroad from the capital city, San Jose, to the port of Limon on the Caribbian. He was assisted in the project by his young nephew Minor C. Keith, who took over Meiggs's business concerns in Costa Rica after Meiggs’s death in 1877.

When the Costa Rican government defaulted on its payments in 1882, Keith had to borrow money to continue the railway project. In exchange for this the President, Próspero Fernández Oreamuno, agreed to give Keith 800,000 acres of tax-free land along the railroad, plus a 99-year lease on the operation of the train route. The railroad was completed in 1890 but proved insufficient to finance Keith's debt. On the other hand, the sale of bananas grown in his lands, proved very lucrative. Keith eventually came to dominate the banana trade in Central America and along the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

IN 1899 Keith and several others combined their assets to form United Fruit Company. They proceeded to buy a share in 14 competitors, assuring them of 80% of the banana import business in the United States. The company catapulted into financial success and proceeded to expand its operations.

In 1901, the government of Guatemala hired the United Fruit Company to manage the country's postal service and in 1913 the United Fruit Company created the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company. By 1930 it had become the largest employer in Central America. By 1930, the company held a major role in the national economies of several countries and eventually became a symbol of the exploitative export economy. This led to serious labor disputes by the Costa Rican peasants, involving more than 100,000 workers.

By the 1930s the company owned 3.5 million acres in Central America and the Caribbean and was the single largest landowner in Guatemala. Such holdings gave it great power over the governments of small countries. That was one of the factors that led to the coining of the phrase "banana republic".

In 1952, the government of Guatemala began expropriating unused United Fruit Company land to landless peasants. The company responded by intensively lobbying the U.S. government to intervene and mounting a misinformation campaign to portray the Guatemalan government as communist. In 1954,during the Eisenhower presidency, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency deposed the democratically elected government of Guatemala and installed a pro-business military dictatorship.

John Foster Dulles, who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at Sullivan & Cromwell – he had negotiated a crucial United Fruit deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s – he was now Secretary of State under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was head of the CIA under Eisenhower; Henry Cabot Lodge, who was America's ambassador to the UN, was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower's personal secretary.

The United Fruit Company was frequently accused of bribing government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, exploiting its workers, paying little by way of taxes to the governments of the countries where it operated, and working ruthlessly to consolidate monopolies.

In 1984, billionaire, Carl Lindner took control of the company and renamed it Chiquita Brands International. The headquarters was moved to Cincinnati in 1985. By 2019, the company's main offices left the United States and relocated to Switzerland.

Guatemala:

Of the seven Central American countries, Guatemala is the largest in population with approximately 17.7 million people, more then the population of Michigan and Wisconsin combined. It has the highest birth rate of the seven countries. It ranks third in land area with 42,042 square miles, about 1,500 square miles larger than the state of Ohio.

The area has been the home of the Mayan culture which began around 2000 BC and reached its greatest heights during the

Classical Period from 250 to 900 AD. Today the Mayan still represent approximately 40% of the country’s population.

Politically the country has suffered chronic instability and civil strife, military coups, civil war, and extensive interference from foreign sources including the United Fruit Company and the United States government. In 1999, U.S. president Bill Clinton said that the United States had been wrong to have provided support to the Guatemalan military forces that took part in brutal civilian killings.

Since 2000 political violence has abated, but political corruption is still an issue. In June 2016 a United Nations-backed prosecutor described the administration of President Pérez Molina as a crime syndicate and outlined another corruption

case, this one dubbed Cooperacha (Kick-in). The head of the Social Security Institute and at least five other ministers used government funds to buy him luxurious gifts such as motorboats.

Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America, but income distribution is highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line. In terms of per capita GDP (PPP) which is a rough estimate of the standard of living, Guatemala at $8,267, is ranked 4th among Central American countries and 118th among the 187 countries listed by the International Monetary Fund. For comparison, the US ranked 7th in the world with $63,051 per capita.

Some of Guatemala's main exports are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, and clothing. In the face of a rising demand for biofuels, the country is growing and exporting an increasing amount of raw materials for biofuel production, especially sugar cane and palm oil. Remittances from Guatemalans living in United States now constitute the largest single source of foreign income (two-thirds of exports and one tenth of GDP).

rebels with funding, armaments, and training.

Nicaragua is among the poorest countries in the Americas. According to the IMF forecasts the outbreak of the COVID-19 will cause an economic decline such that GDP is expected to fall by 6% in 2020. Tourism, including ecotourism, had become the second largest industry in Nicaragua, after agriculture. The main attractions for tourists are the beaches, the scenic routes, and the architecture of cities such as León and Granada.

El Salvador:

With a population just under 6.5 million and a land area of just 8,124 square miles, El Salvador is the smallest but most densely populated country in Central America. The area of the country is only about 1,300 square miles larger than the 10 counties which form the southeastern corner of the state of Michigan, with Macomb county in the northeast and Lenawee county in the southwest. The population of El Salvador is about 1.5 million greater than the population of the same 10 county area of Michigan, which includes Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw and others.

Prior to the Spanish conquest the region was controlled by several Mesoamerican nations, especially the Lencaand Mayans. The Mayan population decreased dramatically in the 5th century AD due to a massive eruption of the Ilopango supervolcano, which caused a massive exodus.

El Salvador's economy has historically been dominated by agriculture. In the early 20th century coffee accounted for 90% of export earnings. They have since reduced their dependence on coffee and embarked on diversifying the economy by opening trade and financial links and expanding the manufacturing sector. The colón, the currency of El Salvador since 1892, was replaced by the United States dollar in 2001. The country ranks third, behind only Panama and Costa Rica, in Central American economic development. More than half of the country’s population now lives in, or closely around, San Salvador, the nation’s capital.

Throughout the 20th century the country has faced a series of coups, revolts and a civil war from 1979 through 1992. Economic reforms since the early 1990s brought major benefits in terms of improved social conditions, diversification of the export sector, and access to international financial markets. Crime remains a major problem.

Among the immigrant groups in El Salvador, Palestinian Christians stand out. Though few in number, their descendants have attained great economic and political power in the country, as evidenced by the election of President Antonio Saca, whose opponent in the 2004 election, Schafik Handal, was also of Palestinian

descent, and involved in the flourishing commercial, industrial, and construction firms owned by this ethnic group.

Costa Rica:

In terms of population, with just over 5 million people, Costs Rica ranks 5th among the seven countries. This is approximately equal to one half the population of the state of Michigan. With a land area 19,730 square miles it is somewhat less then half the size of Michigan. Density is therefore comparable to Michigan’s.

Costa Rica has been cited by the UN as having attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, with a better record on human development and inequality than the median of the region. it is the 12th happiest country in the World Happiness Report. It permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army.

During the Spanish colonial period Costa Rica was a poor, isolated, and sparsely inhabited region. It was, by and large, unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop on its own. The circumstances during this period are believed to have led to many of the idiosyncrasies for which Costa Rica has become known, while concomitantly setting the stage for its development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors. Costa Rica became a "rural democracy" with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class.

Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability than many of its fellow Latin American nations. The exceptions were two significant periods of violence. In 1917–1919, General Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a military dictator until he was overthrown and forced into exile. In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election. With more than 2,000 dead, the resulting 44-day Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in Costa Rica during the 20th century.

The country has been considered economically stable and has one of the highest standards of living in Central America. High quality health care is provided by the government at low cost to the users. Housing is also very affordable. Costa Rica is recognized in Latin America for the quality of its educational system with one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America, 97%.

A pioneer of ecotourism, Costa Rica draws many tourists to its extensive national parks and other protected areas. The trail Camino de Costa Rica supports this by allowing travelers to walk across the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. The Ethical Traveler group, on their 2017 list of The World's Ten Best Ethical Destinations includes Costa Rica. The country scored highest in environmental protection among the winners. Costa Rica began reversing deforestation in the 1990s, and they are moving towards using only renewable energy.

Panama: The second smallest country in terms of population Panama has 4.2 million people. Only Belize has fewer people. The land area of approximately 29,081 square miles, is slightly more than one-half the size of the state of Michigan while its population is slightly less the one-half of the population of Michigan.

After 300 years of Spanish rule Panama became independent in 1821, It went through several political configurations, ultimately becoming a part of the South American country of Colombia. In 1903, with the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia and became a separate country. This allowed the construction of the Panama Canal to be completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers between

1904 and 1914. The 1977 the Torrijos–Carter Treaties led to the transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama on December 31, 1999. The surrounding territory had been transferred in 1979.

In the 1980’s there was a great deal of conflict, corruption and violence under the regime of Manuel Noriega. United States President Ronald Reagan began a series of sanctions against the military regime. The United States froze economic and military assistance to Panama in the middle of 1987 in response to the domestic political crisis in Panama and an attack on the US embassy. These sanctions did little to overthrow Noriega, who was accused of drug trafficking by federal juries in Tampa and Miami.

The US invaded Panama in December 1989, saying that it was "necessary to safeguard the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama, defend

democracy and human rights, combat drug trafficking, and secure the neutrality of the Panama Canal as required by the Torrijos–Carter Treaties". Described as a surgical maneuver, the action led to estimates of

civilian death from 200 to 4,000 during the two weeks of armed activities.

Revenue from canal tolls represents a significant portion of Panama's GDP, although commerce, banking, and tourism are major and growing sectors. The handover of the Canal and military installations by the United States has given rise to large construction projects. Planned expansion projects on the Canal are expected to boost and extend economic expansion for some time. Panama is regarded as a high-income country.[13] In 2019 Panama ranked 57th in the world in terms of the Human Development Index.

With the revenues from the canal Panama has built the largest Regional Financial Center in Central America, with consolidated assets being more than three times that of Panama's GDP. The banking sector employs more than 24,000 people directly. The country still has a reputation worldwide for being a tax haven but has agreed to enhanced transparency, especially since the release in 2016 of the Panama

Papers. Significant progress has been made to improve full compliance with anti-money laundering recommendations.