(Estimated Pub Date) the Challenge of Ethnic Conflict to National and International Order in the 1990S: Geographic Perspectives- October 1995

Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268
The Ethnic Challenge to National
and International Order in South
America, Mexico, and the Caribbean
During the 1990s: Geographical .
Perspectives
Gary S. Elbow
Professor of Geography
Texas Tech University
Introduction
As in so many other regions of the world, there is
much ethnic diversity in Latin America and the Carib-
bean. In addition to the well-recognized Amerind,
African, and Iberian elements, one finds representa-
tives of nearly all major European ethnic groups as
well as many Middle Eastern and East and South
Asian groups. In contrast to many other areas of the
world, most of these ethnic populations are immi-
grants to the region who lack longstanding historic
associations with New World territory but who have
generally been well integrated into the national cul-
tures of the countries in which they reside. As such,
most are not considered ethnic minorities but rather
members of the national culture whose ancestors came
from a non-Hispanic area. Two countries, Argentina
and Peru, are currently governed by non-Hispanics,
Carlos Saul Menem, a Syrian-Argentine, and Alberto
Fujimori, a Japanese-Peruvian, respectively, and
members of these and other non-Iberian immigrant
groups are locally important in politics, business, or
industry. For example, the Bucaram, Nebot, and Saad
families are important in Guayaquil, Ecuador, as are
various families of Syrian and Lebanese descent in
San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and of Japanese descent in
Brazil.
In general, Latin America is less prone to ethnic con-
flict than many other regions of the world. Conflicts
within the region are more often related to class differ-
ences, declining standards of living, and unequal
distribution of access to resources, employment
opportunities, oripolitical power than they are to
purely ethnic factors. For example, the guerrilla
insurgencies of Sendero Luminoso and Tupac Amaru
in Peru, the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, the
civil war in El Salvador, and recent outbreaks of vio-
lence in Venezuela are largely nonethnic conflicts.
Although these conflicts may involve disaffected
members of nonruling ethnic groups, the root causes
of the violence lie more in nonethnic issues. Fre-
quently, ethnic groups are drawn unwillingly into
political conflicts or are duped into participation by
one side or the other, even though there is no explic-
itly “ethnic” agenda in the objectives of the opposing
sides. Thus, the presence of minority ethnic groups on
one side or the other of a Latin American political or
armed conflict does not necessarily mean that it has its
origin in ethnic issues.
Although Latin America is not an area in which ethnic
conflict is likely to escalate to a level of international
importance on a par with, for example, the Middle
East, Africa, or the Balkan states, considerable tension
does exist among ethnic groups in South America,
Mexico, and the Caribbean. There have been frequent
ethnic conflicts in the past, and the potential for future
conflict, either armed or through political action,
exists in several parts ofthe region. The most active
conflicts at present, and probably for the remainder
of the decade and longer, are in areas of traditional
Indian occupation and involve encounters between
Indians and the state.‘
Indian Populations and the State
The regional b"as"es"of conflict between the Latin
American states and their Indian populations may be
divided conveniently into highland and lowland. In a
1 Indian is a very complex term as used in Latin America because it
refers to cultural identity not biological characteristics. Thus. Indi-
ans are people who self-identify as Indians and who retain distinc-
tive characteristics of dress, language, economy, and beliefs that set
them apart from the Hispanicized population of the country in
which they reside. People who are bom Indians may pass into the
mestizo majority by learning Spanish. leaving their community of
birth, and adopting other Hispanic cultural traits. This process has
occurred since early colonial times and accounts for a large share
of the mestizo population in many Latin American countries.
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Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268