16-03-2010, 12:14 AM
(This post was last modified: 16-03-2010, 12:33 AM by Ruben Mundaca.)
Jan Klimkowski Wrote:Senor Mundaca - your history is as biased as your politics.
Howzabout we start with Potosi - the legendary "rich mountain" of silver ore. A physical El Dorado to the rapacious Spanish.
Tens of thousands of indigenous Bolivians were worked to death by the conquistadores in the service of nothing more than European imperialist greed.
When healthy adult Bolivians became scarce (they were mostly dead), the Spanish shipped in African slaves as acémilas humanas. "Human mules."
The, ahem, "enlightened" Europeans worked at least 30,000 African slaves to death as well.
All this was approved as God's Work by the Catholic Church.
Btw I've been to Bolivia three times. It's a uniquely beautiful country.
My history is easly evident and observable, señor Jan.
All you have to do is to go to a library, or search for kewords as "aztecas", "Mayas", "Incas", "Bishop Las Casas", "Motolinia", "Encomienda", "Chiquitos", "Misiones de Chiquitos", etc., or better: a good book about the American History. It will not bite you, I guarantee....
About Potosí: the silver mines where discovered after the conquest, in lands that where part of Spain by that time, so is not a "robbery" as some official history claim (including our own Bolivian official history).
What you don't know and nobody tell you, is that indigenous miners in Potosí where PAYED by his work, and there was only a temporary work: after some months, they where free to go.
Problem was the PRICE they payed to the workers: the price was mostly stablished by the vicerroy administration in Lima (Perú) according the minimun salary in the city of LIMA. But Potosí was the most expensive city in the world by that time, so the minimun salary was only enough for about two weeks of the month.
That's why no many indians want to come to work and the one it does, was obligated by debts to pay the taxes to the crown (Indigenous was the only obligated to pay taxes: creoles and spanish where free from that obligation).
The main problem (and the reason for the scarse workers) was the obligation to release them when his time was accomplished. In order to have more workers, mine administration give some extra benefits to the workers, as to give a free amount of coca and some free food, also. That lead to enrichment of many indigenous coca traders (cocanis), many of them richer than any spanish (The rebelion of Tupac Katari, was payed by his wife Bartolina Sisa, one of the richest cocani of Bolivia in those times)
About the 10000 indigenous died in Potosí: evry ancient mine take a death toll, but 10000 is only part of the folkore. Who count them...??.. in what period of time..???...
Negro people where not good workers for Potosí, due that the hig altitude of the city. So indigenous where better. Negros where mostly used in agricultural tasks, and Bolivia recived not many of them. The negro community is very little in Bolivia.
The so called "human acemiles" where people dedicated to transport in their back things as food and coca, in those roads too much narrow for a cart. It was a very hard work due to the hills and mountains, but as I sayed, not forever.
If you have visited Bolivia, next time pay attention to a good history book, not folkore. Folkore is fun, but not accurate or true. Even official Bolivian history has incorporated many of them, according the Independence War view.
- I hope you have visited the Chiquitos Missions also: a completly different view of spanish conquest.
Many of the legends about spanish cruelty (some of them are true, also. Specially when they punish rebels, to set an example) where tailored to create hate during the Independence War, hate against "the enemy", to justify to slaughter them. Latter, 15 years of war automatically create many reasons to hate them.
But is very interesting that the first rebelions where not performed against the spanish, but against THE FRENCH ....!!!! (Napoleon was ruling Spain by that time, and we don't want to obey him). After the first battles and deaths suffered against spanish army (under french obedience), the wrath created by the loses and some smart university creoles lead to change the objetive: the Independence.
And without the help recived from England ( mortal enemy of Spain and France by that time), the Independence cannot be posible (they send weapons, money and even military generals and crew to help the libertadores, using the link of the masonery). I bet you don't knew that, either. You will not find it in our countrie's official history books.
