“Peasantry and nation: the indigenous guerrillas in the war with Chile”: our critique of the book by Nelson Manrique

In 1979, the centenary of the beginning of the Pacific War, a young Nelson Manrique finished writing his thesis on the participation of the Andean community in the resistance against the Chilean occupation forces, which was published in book form two years later with the title “Peasantry and nation: the indigenous guerrillas in the war with Chile”. The volume was pioneering as it was the first organic work on this specific topic; Until that moment, the vast majority of specialists had focused on the study of the recognizable facts of the conflict and the semblance of the canonical heroes. Four decades later, Manrique once again gives us a new edition of this project, revamped and extended under the prism of chronological distance.

Along with Antonio Zapata, Manrique must be our historian with the greatest interest in making his work accessible not only to the initiated, but also to the common reader. This book is no exception. “Peasant and nation” is not limited to being a rigorous and detailed study: it is also entertaining like good novels. The ins and outs of the Breña campaign, the guerrilla offensives, the collaboration with the invader and the heroic sacrifice of the Cáceres army in Huamachuco are narrated in detail that at the same time illustrates and informs; the protagonists of the contest enjoy the human depth that skillful chroniclers manage to breathe into the characters in which they engage.

But beyond the excellent account of facts and circumstances, methodologically impeccable, the great question that motivates this work is the issue of the national consciousness of the indigenous people of the central highlands. Manrique challenges that double prejudice, so deeply rooted among us, of considering the Indian as a being incapable of understanding or committing himself to the war that surrounds him and its consequences (the one who followed the skirmishes between “General Chile” and “General Pirú” indifferently). ”) or as the heroic combatant who, awakened from his meekness by the abuses suffered, rises up to avenge direct insults, reaching righteous savagery in the face of the enemy. Likewise, he objects to an equally persistent stereotype: that of the fierce and cruel Chilean occupier almost for genetic reasons, looter and rapist by nature. Our author warns that these superficial explanations not only tend to reinforce the most vulgar jingoism, but also prevent tracing the true historical causes of certain behaviors that cannot be understood by resorting to simplifying determinism.

Manrique’s theory of how the peasantry acquired a national identity in such a compelling context is persuasive: he distinguishes between a positive nationalism – one based on shared common elements – and one that is implanted in response to a predatory foreign enemy. This awareness was imposed despite the fact that Peru lacked a bourgeoisie and a capitalist development that would be essential for the establishment of a proper nation; but as Manrique reminds us, the usual thing is that this negative nationalism, generated by opposition, gives way to a positive one, a process in which, a century and a half later, we are still immersed. And it is for this very reason that “Peasantry and Nation” continues to be relevant today: forty years after its appearance, the inquisitions and interpretations it contains are part of the debate about our community conception and the destiny towards which we are heading together. Highly recommended.