Diplomacy, trade, and power in a borderland region: The assassination of an indigenous king in talamanca, present-day costa rica, 1870-1872

Abstract

Objective/Context: In 1872, the indigenous leader Santiago Mayas was murdered. The events leading up to this outcome and Mayas’ overall political career shed light on the challenges indigenous communities faced in Talamanca, a borderland located in southeastern Costa Rica. During Mayas’ lifetime, Talamancans were impacted by the simultaneous and sometimes contradictory advances of the capitalist economy and the nation-state system. Methodology: Primary sources created by different actors allowed a critical reading of the few and highly biased accounts previously used to interpret this era. Originality: This work demonstrates that the Talamancan world of the period and cacique Mayas’ political actions were substantially different from what had been previously accepted. Far from being isolated from the world or frozen in time, Talamanca was an area where external political and economic interests converged and collided. Mayas was not a dim-witted tyrant, but a social actor who struggled to navigate a complex and unstable environment. Conclusions: In the middle of the 19th century, Talamanca was under multiple external pressures. Agents of an emerging global capitalism, along with officials from Colombia and Costa Rica, vied to control its territories, resources, and inhabitants. At the same time, the political notions and structures of the Bribri and Cabecar Indians were transforming, seeking to survive in the new environment. Mayas’ initial success in finding his own path in this tumultuous context turned him into a powerful figure. Ultimately, growing contradictions within the indigenous communities and the persistent machinations of external forces put him in an untenable position, which paved the way for his downfall.