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A Brief History of Central America

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Book containing three translated narratives of early Spanish explorers in what would become the Southern United States. This includes the paths taken by the explorers, the people they encountered, and hardships they endured;411 p. : maps; it contains the writings of Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th cent. & Castañeda de Nájera, Pedro de, 16th cent. 1984. This book is part of the collection Texas State Historical Association Monographs.

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

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Héctor Pérez Brignoli

14 books1 follower

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5 stars
12 (14%)
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21 (25%)
3 stars
34 (40%)
2 stars
13 (15%)
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for C..
Author 20 books442 followers
February 28, 2010
When I was looking for a general over-view of Central American history, it's hard to fault the author for giving me exactly what I asked for, especially when his forward lays out all the failings and short-comings of the format. Still, I found myself skimming a lot as various decades ran together along with various countries, regimes, revolutions, counter-revolutions, and foreign interventions. As expected, most of the five countries involved share depressingly similar histories, and after a while the strong-men dictators, once-liberal juntas, and agrarian land-reforms are hard to keep apart, and I felt bit dizzy with too many names and dates yet not enough detail about any one movement. I feel I have a bit better understanding of the major themes and trends in Central America over the last two-hundred years, which is basically what I wanted. I was hoping for more on the pre-imperial native history, but the author focuses on Central America as such, and that political-geographical conceit did not even exist until European colonization, so I suppose that makes sense.
Profile Image for Eren Buğlalılar.
341 reviews138 followers
April 8, 2020
A good, readable summary from colonial times up until 1987. Tries to cover everything from economy to social structure but gives a larger space to ruling class politics. The impact of Cuban Revolution on US’ and dependent countries’ policies almost left unmentioned.
Profile Image for Die A..
50 reviews3 followers
May 12, 2019
El contenido del libro es fiel al título del mismo: se ofrece un estudio breve que abarca aspectos fundamentales de la historia de la región centroamericana desde la época colonial.

Desde un inicio, el autor justifica el porqué de no centrar su estudio en Panamá y Belice; él manifiesta que hay dos criterios básicos desde los cuales se puede abordar el estudio de la historia de esta región: el primero, que se centra exclusivamente en los 5 países que en su momento integraron el llamado "Reino de Guatemala" (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua y Costa Rica) y que llegaron a alcanzar la independencia posteriormente como "Provincias Unidas del Centro de América" y, el segundo, que atañe a los estudios de relaciones internacionales sobre política inglesa y norteamericana atinentes a la región.

Pérez Brignoli señala que Panamá y Belice entran dentro del primer criterio como integrantes de la región centroamericana, pero que dicha pertenencia apenas se remontaba desde mediados de la década de los años 70. Hasta antes del régimen de Omar Torrijos, Panamá tuvo poca injerencia o participación en la política centroamericana, y Belice, por su parte, apenas comenzó a tener cierta influencia en la región desde su emancipación progresiva de las Antillas británicas hasta su independencia (el 21 de setiembre de 1981). El resto de las naciones centroamericanas sí tienen un origen en común que data de mucho antes.

El libro, al ser breve, está lleno de datos técnicos que pretenden ilustrar el comportamiento de la región a través de distintas épocas, así como señalar una serie de circunstancias que a estas alturas son evidentes: la influencia que los Estados Unidos siempre ha tenido sobre el área, la cual se ha limitado en muchos casos al hecho de tratarse de un "punto estratégico", nada más (de hecho, el propio autor dice que a lo largo de la historia de la política estadounidense, a las naciones centroamericanas se les consideró desde un inicio simplemente como "Banana Republics").

En mi caso particular, al ser costarricense, tenía la curiosidad de adentrarme un poco en el tema, toda vez que, como bien lo señala el autor en reiteradas ocasiones, el caso de Costa Rica ha sido particular con respecto al resto de países centroamericanos a través de la historia. El ubicarse de manera un tanto "aislada" con respecto a los conflictos sociales y culturales que se venían dando desde mediados del siglo XVIII y su preponderancia a instaurar políticas enfocadas en gasto público enfocado en la educación y la salud a partir del siglo XIX fueron los factores esenciales que marcaron una diferencia notoria entre Costa Rica y el resto de los países. Sin embargo, eso no obsta para admitir que Costa Rica, también, es un país que tiene problemas de consideración, siendo que hasta el día de hoy sigue en las llamadas "vías de desarrollo".

Esto último se manifiesta en una parte del libro así:

"Salvo en el caso de Costa Rica, no existe una tradición colectiva de confianza en el sistema político democrático, y a menudo se confunden los verdaderos alcances de la democracia representativa. Es frecuente que se le asocien expectativas de distribución de la riqueza y de igualdad social. Estas percepciones equivocadas no serían problemáticas si se produjeran en un clima de prosperidad económica y aumento de las oportunidades; dado que no es así, hay que admitir que el desencanto democrático y una simétrica tentación hacia soluciones autoritarias podrían también conquistar amplias mayorías" (pág. 222).

El libro (al menos la edición que tuve oportunidad de leer), llega hasta el año 1999. Es claro que han pasado muchas cosas relevantes en los últimos 20 años; por ejemplo, el caso de corrupción de "La línea" en Guatemala, el golpe de estado en Honduras del año 2009 que removió del poder a Manuel Zelaya, el conflicto fronterizo por Isla Calero entre Nicaragua y Costa Rica acaecido en el 2010, así como la situación apremiante que se vive desde abril del año pasado en Nicaragua y la crisis fiscal de la que Costa Rica está intentando salvarse con base en una reciente reforma fiscal que, por un lado, aumenta cargas impositivas ya existentes y, por otro, impone otras nuevas, todo a raíz de casos de corrupción que han envuelto a los tres poderes de la república y del exceso de beneficios en el sector laboral público, entre otros.

Habiendo leído el libro, y si bien no siempre se cuenta con los conocimientos técnicos a los que hice referencia antes, a uno le queda claro que Centroamérica es una región que siempre ha estado mancillada desde cualquier costado que se le vea. Una economía débil y poco adaptable a los cambios, cruentas guerras civiles a través de la historia (con la excepción, nuevamente, de Costa Rica), casos graves de corrupción, pésima distribución de la riqueza, políticas públicas fallidas y demás, son razones que hacen que esta región, al día de hoy, siga en mayor o menor grado estancada, endeble ante los cambios en el mercado internacional.

Este es un libro para toda persona que desee adquirir una noción de la dinámica de esta región. Eso sí, considero necesario decir que tal vez para alguien que sea centroamericano termine siendo más sencillo de entender.
Profile Image for Karla.
85 reviews
May 18, 2019
What a depressing book. The author wrote this book in the late 1980s and sadly 30-40 years later Central America continues to struggle. Snce it's a "brief" history of Central America he can't go into much detail. It's a good start though if one wants to know and understand a little bit more about Cetnral America.
1,119 reviews125 followers
November 15, 2017
incessant struggle

Of course every country's history is a tale of struggle. Human life itself is a struggle. How can we gain a better livelihood, govern ourselves better, and express ourselves more fully without struggle ? Still, in many parts of the world, history has found tranquil moments or times when it appears that a `golden age' existed. Many countries have achieved political, social, or economic stability for long periods. Upon reading A BRIEF HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA, the strong impression is that in this part of the world, such stable or brilliant periods have been conspicuously absent. Four republics---Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua---have long endured under oppression or chaos. Their native populations were either decimated, absorbed, or relegated to serf status. A small upper class has dominated in one way or another right from the start, never hesitating to use extreme violence to maintain control. These four countries could not find political or economic equilibrium, while the other one, Costa Rica, became an amazing and fascinating exception. The author of this short but insightful book deals with a huge amount of information most expertly. He covers all the major tendencies, the patterns of history from when the conquistadores arrived in the 16th century through colonial rule, the independence movements, 19th century struggles between liberals and conservatives, the role of the church and landowners, the impact of British and American interference, the rise of plantation agriculture in indigo, coffee, and bananas, the constant round of fake elections and military coups, up to the Nicaraguan and Salvadorean insurrections of the 1980s. One major statement underlines the rest: "It was not the existence of societies with deep inequalities that characterized Central America's uniqueness; rather, it was in how these inbalances were translated politically into an exclusion of the underclasses." (p.105) In the case of Central America, the 'underclasses' included the vast majority of the population. After the decline of revolutionary fervor, led by often-inexperienced idealists, opposed strenuously by the USA and Central American upper classes, one might have thought that the concluding compromises would usher in a new, better era. But, it seems that the drug trade has introduced a new era of violence and instability. Central America's tragic history continues. Belize and Panama get some notice, but the author emphasizes his focus on the other five. Though I have lived in Honduras and read more than a few books about the area, I felt that this history---by a Central American academic---served up, in a nutshell, the essential nature of Central American history. It is a five star history book for sure. However, I have given it only four stars for one reason alone. The translation is very poor. There are any number of misuses of prepositions, misuse of words like `realities' and `utopia', and strange word order. There are even quite a few typos. It is a shame that such a fine book did not get a better translation
Profile Image for Markel.
165 reviews6 followers
November 5, 2019
'Breve historia de Centroamérica' (o 'Una historia de violencia') es un recorrido exhaustivo de la historia de una Centroamérica, unas veces apresurado, otras harto tedioso. Se hace difícil seguir el ritmo a la retahíla de reformas agrarias, revueltas, dictaduras, guerras y escaramuzas que impregnan la historia del istmo. Es una pena, sin embargo, que no se incluya Belice ni Panamá, y que el libro se centre sobre todo en los siglos XIX y XX, sin profundizar particularmente en la historia precolonial de estos territorios. En la edición de 2018 que he leído, el penúltimo capítulo, escrito en el año 2000, aún está escrito en tiempo presente o de pasado reciente, y el último capítulo sobre el siglo XXI apenas da unos pincelazos en 20 páginas de temas candentes como el medio ambiente, el narcotráfico o las maras.

Este libro identifica perfectamente las tendencias macro de la región a través de ejemplos en cada de unos de los países cubiertos, sin que se trate de un estudio individualizado y obteniendo perfectamente una visión global de los fenómenos acaecidos en cada época analizada. Sin embargo, no puedo dejar de pensar que, a partir de cierto punto, Costa Rica sigue su propio rumbo y no tiene nada en común con los otros países centroamericanos, más que ofrecer un punto de comparación entre opuestos. Y el autor tampoco deja totalmente claro el porqué último de esta diferencia.

En fin, un estudio extremadamente completo (breve es discutible) acerca de Centroamérica en el que queda claro que se trata de una región en constante y doloroso conflicto consigo misma, y que ha satisfecho más que de sobra las inquietudes de un recién llegado a la misma.
Profile Image for Lauren .
1,773 reviews2,462 followers
February 2, 2012
I was happy to find this book by a Central American scholar in translation. While I admit to skimming some sections, the ones I focused on (first 2/3s of book) were engaging and well-researched. Perez-Brignoli is methodical in his approach, and each country is examined in succession through the time periods. I liked this style as it was easy to compare what was happening in (example) Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala in a certain span of years.
Profile Image for Karen.
1,916 reviews47 followers
December 6, 2015
To be honest, I know very little of the history of our neighbors to the south. This book was a good overview of the region, it's people and the history. I am glad it was written by a Central American, but I could see the obvious bias for Costa Rica.

This would have been a difficult book to write within the constraints, but I found the book to be confusing in that the narrative jumped between countries and (not as much), time periods.
Profile Image for Joel.
Author 12 books24 followers
March 9, 2024
Not a lot has changed in Central America over the last thirty years, since Hector Perez-Brignoli wrote this concise review of the history of the isthmus. The book is a helpful primer, taking the reader from the days of the colony and the “Kingdom of Guatemala” and on through the independence movements and onwards towards the 1980s.

As presented by Perez-Brignoli, Central America’s story might best be described as that of “transitions interrupted”. The countries are too small to find an economy of scale which allows them to compete, their attempts at integration (like the Central American Confederation and afterwards the Central American Common Market) failed to create political unity that could help market success and end poverty. The conservatives and the Catholic Church were too reactionary and, as Perez-Brignoli put it, “…tended to view any concession as the first link in a chain that would end up in social revolution.” ‘Liberalism’ is a constant tension and struggle between the ideas of liberty and equality. Without allowing for the creation of any of the institutions that would help balance the political power of the elites and the gravitational nature of capital, what resulted was the lack of any real progress in representative democracy derived from the consent of the governed because “In practice, the life of ‘Liberal’ institutions and laws was above all an immense ‘monologue’ of the ruling classes with themselves.”

Add into this sclerotic political environment a massive dose of Cold War politics and a tendency toward ‘caudillo’ capture of entire countries and what you get is an isthmus that has advanced very little. While South Korea and Singapore and Dubai became juggernauts, Central America has languished. The remarkable thing about reading this book 30+ years on is that the names are all the same. Significant parts of the modern Guatemala story were dominated by “Arevalo – the senior”. The first mention of the Chamorro family in Central America was from the 1850s, and they still dominate politics; while Daniel Ortega hangs on but now not in the role of the revolutionary but in the role of Somoza 2.0 — which would be ironic if it were not so sad. The Zelayas in Honduras, the Trujillos in Panama.

Central America needs a massive reboot. Economic integration, political incorporation, and a rising prosperity mixed with a diminishing inequality. These are the days for bold ideas; the 30 million people of the isthmus demand it. Reading books like Perez-Brignoli’s help us understand what happened, so that we don’t repeat mistakes of the past as we plan for a better future.
Profile Image for Francisco.
347 reviews8 followers
February 28, 2019
Un libro que se esfuerza en ser objetivo y presentar datos y cifras para de ahí dar pie a sus conclusiones. Tiene dos obstáculos a mi juicio, que limitan a lo que el lector capta de ese esfuerzo. El primero es que a fuerza de ser breve, limita hechos y al no profundizar, deja cabos sueltos. El segundo es que pareciera que a la abrumadora cantidad de evidencias y cifras que indican que las reacciones cuerdas y coherentes debieran ser un camino, los centroamericanos nos esforzamos en tomar uno distinto. Ese "porque" puede desorientar al lector y hacer parecer discordante la línea cronológica de nuestra historia. De la edición que obtuve, la tercera de 2018, cabe destacar una excelente reseña de lo que va del siglo XXI, mucho mejor estructurada para entender a partir de elementos claves y cifras. Una historía trágica , lamentable pero cierto.
143 reviews
December 5, 2023
Published in 1985 in Spanish and then in 1989 in English, this book shows its age, yet it is still provides many insights into how the five nations of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) came about and why they are so different today. The book ends with the observation that the five have to come together in order to prosper and survive among much bigger neighbors and international forces. In the nearly 40 years since the book was written, Central America remains more divided than ever, and a Central America Union is just a dream.
123 reviews
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January 7, 2021
Super short (190 pages) and it ends in 1988 or so.

Part of my prep reading for an anticipated trip to Central America in the summer.
16 reviews
March 25, 2011
Need I repeat myself on the necessity of reading a survey history of a place to start with despite the fact that they are never the most interesting of books? This follows that standard. Quality work, well presented, but not an attention grabber. A good place to start when entering into the history of Central America.
Profile Image for Dennise.
29 reviews
May 29, 2014
Not many books that have been translated into English on the history of Central America and this one is one of the few. Maybe that's why at times it jumps around but it does have great detail that is definitely hard to find.
54 reviews2 followers
March 25, 2016
Informative and depressing. This was the only book I could find that successfully gave me some background before I visited Honduras in 1999 - the lack of writings in English was disappointing so I was very happy to discover this book.
356 reviews2 followers
January 23, 2016
Good, a little monotonous when the dictators were constantly overthrowing each other and the US was constantly giving billions in guns, but I learned A LOT and it wasn't too slow or anything.
Profile Image for Sean Chick.
Author 6 books1,057 followers
November 25, 2012
Jumpy and vague, which makes it a very bad introduction to the subject.
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