There must have been people at the bottom of inca society as well as people at the top. I think there a lot less people, lot less a disequality than in europe. But yes, of course you get vari n in form said, he wat what? There was a system called mita, which was that idea of obligated labor. And also, that reciprocity is to the earth itself, to the mother earth, to the bachamama. So that a possibility of living in earth, you have to repay for that.
The Nobel prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa’s latest novel revolves around the lies, schemes and vested interests that infected the development of Latin America. In Harsh Times (translated by Adrian Nathan West) a CIA-supported military coup topples the government of Guatemala, but the idea that the country was a Soviet satellite is shown up as manipulated fiction. Llosa tells Tom Sutcliffe about the murky tales of Cold War conspiracies that dominated at the time, and their legacy today.
Natalia Sobrevilla Perea is Professor of Latin American History at the University of Kent and looks at the impact of the Cold War proxy battles on countries like Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala and El Salvador. She highlights the power of the drug barons and the current Peruvian government’s war on corruption. Her research focuses on how historical events have set the stage for contemporary debates about how Andean nations should be governed and how to define citizenship.
But what of the land before outside interference? Peru: a journey in time is the latest exhibition at the British Museum and showcases the civilisations and societies that rose and fell in the remarkable landscapes of the Andes mountains. On display will be objects from the early culture of Chavin in 1200 BC to the Incas in the 16th century. The co-curator Jago Cooper says the ancient Peruvian societies had their unique approaches to economy, gender, power and beliefs, and they thrived against the odds up until the Inca conquest by the Spanish.
(Image: Funerary mask - Peru, Moche, AD 100–800. Museo de Arte de Lima. Donated by James Reid.)
Producer: Katy Hickman