Markéta Křížová: Indians in Latin America: From insignificance to the presidential Palace
- Where: Vaclav Havel Library, Řetězová 7, Prague
- When: April 15, 2014, 19:00 – 21:00
Final lecture in a series conceived by Markéta Křížová (Centre for Ibero-American Studies at the Arts Faculty of Charles University).
For the entire 19th century and much of the 20th, Latin American Indians were virtually invisible; they were erased from political life, while their culture was repressed. However, in recent decades they have begun to take their fates into their own hands thanks to a concurrence of social processes and growing sensitivity on the part of the international public to the issue of the “fourth world”.
The presentation of the Nobel Price to Rigoberto Menchú in 1992, the reaction to the Zapatista uprising in southern Mexico and the fact that the men boasting Indian origin became the presidents of Peru and Bolivia have been landmarks as the Indian question has gained visibility throughout Latin America. At the same time, the depth of social and economic problems has become ever clearer while fresh problems are being caused by tourism, growing economic globalisation and the devastation of the environment.