Educational Provision for Ethnic Minority Groups in Nicaragua

Abstract

The indigenous and minority peoples of Latin America must rank amongst the most marginalised and disadvantaged ethnic groups to be found anywhere. The repression suffered during the Spanish colonial period devalued and in some cases destroyed indigenous cultures so that in countries such as Cuba and Costa Rica little trace remains of the original indigenous inhabitants. In the post-colonial period, repression continued. Indigenous peoples have been expected to accept the norms of a Hispanic culture or suffer the consequences. Indigenous peoples and Creole minorities in Latin America lack many of the defence mechanisms of minority groups in more developed countries. In Quebec or Catalonia for instance, minority groups have political and economic power, are fairly numerous and have well demarcated national territories. Minority groups in Latin America, on the other hand, often rank amongst the poorest and least educated. They tend to consist of small, ethnically varied groups and may lack their own territorial boundaries. Economic pressures tend to weaken these cultures, leading to urban migration and consequent ghettoisation. Unlike in post-colonial Africa, where it is conglomerates of indigenous groups who battle for power, political control in Latin America tends to rest in the hands of small military and economic elites who espouse the language and attitudes of the former imperial rulers. They see the virtues of 'Hispanidad' as an important unifying factor as they strive to maintain traditional social and political structures. In countries with little tradition of consensus, political attempts to promote minority rights may easily be seen as subversive. In addition, minority groups are metaphorically and literally caught in the crossfire in the social and ideological battles currently being waged in the region. The Quechua speakers in Peru, for example, have suffered greatly from persecution in their Government's counterinsurgency campaign against 'Sendero Luminoso' guerrillas. In El Salvador, minorities have fallen victim to both army and F.M.L.N. fighters alike. In Guatemala, the 'Ejercito Guerillero de los Pobres' [1] is trying to use indigenous peoples in its struggle, whist at the other end of the political spectrum the C.I.A. has targeted Nicaragua's Creoles and Miskito Indians as the weakness of the Sandinista revolution.