“The Criollo Republic is crumbling and the time has come to establish an Andean Republic ”

An interview with the Peruvian historian Edmundo Guillén.

The distinguished Peruvian historian Edmundo Guillén, was born in Lucanas, Ayacucho in 1921. He is the author of numerous essays about the history of the Andes and of transcendental books such as “Versión Inka de la Conquista” (“The Inka version of the Conquest”) and “La Guerra de Reconquista Inka”, (“The War of the Inca Reconquest”). He is also the founder of various universities of which he is also professor and at present is promoting the creation of “La Academia Andina de la Historia” (The Andean Academy of History). Some time ago now, together with Juan José Vega, he put forward a very different vision of Peru’s history, a vision that radically opposes the official version, which despite its errors and omissions, is still held firm today.

Last June and in recognition of his determination to bring back the Andean legacy, Guillén was named president of the recently established the Academia de Historia del Perú Andino (“Academy for the history of Andean Peru”). The principle aim of the institution is to bring together intellectuals from all fields “for the study of the thousands of years of history of Andean Peru from its origins up until the present day”

The study of the Andean cultures and civilisations during the Spanish domination, the subsequent ideological-military war undertaken by the Andean villages in their resistance to feudal-colonial rule, the analysis of the socio-political effects of the creation of the Republic; the cultural battle fought by the Andeans as a vindication of their human rights,

A)    An analysis of the tragedy that befell Andean Peru when the republic was established on home territory by a foreign government.

B)    The study of the Andean fight for their human rights in the Criollo Republic.

       The advances and results of this research will be made public at academic events programmed by the Academy. These will take the form of seminars, symposiums, round tables and post graduate courses the results will subsequently be published in articles, serialised reports, books and in the periodic magazine ‘Punchao’. The Academy will also offer support in, amongst other things, the assessment of thesis, research projects and monographs. 

Guillén’s words present a synthesis of what Peruvians were and give us a glimpse of what they could be, a nation that should reclaim the legacy of thousands of years of greatness. Its secular parenthesis is a tragedy that has marked the lives of the Andean villages ever since the ill-fated Spanish invasion; a parenthesis that, in his opinion, will be finalised during our life time with the death of the ‘Criollo Republic’. According to Guillén this is an objective and undeniable fact that calls for a serious and detailed reflection, given that – as Guillén says – we are the protagonists of events that will determine radical changes in the hazardous evolution of our history.

Dr. Guillén, do you consider this to be an unprecedented crisis in our history?

Now that we are reaching the end of our long and vital journey, let us reflect on the history of our nation. We are approaching a crisis without precedents in terms of gravity, but a crisis nevertheless, that comes as no great surprise as for a long time now we have been able to predict the imminent demise of the ‘Criollo Republic’.

Let’s make a precise and indispensable distinction. From its origins in the 19^th century, the State dominated by the Criollo ruling classes and later the feudal and middle classes, made a farce of republican and democratic ideals. Anyone who refutes this has no understanding of the dual culture that exists in this country fruit of the birth of the feudal-colonial rule and ever present today with the development of a dependent capitalism that leaves the vast majority of the population in abject poverty and without hope of a solution.

If in the past we spoke about the confrontation of two worlds, the West against the Andean, we can now talk about two paths: one is that of the ‘Criollo Republic’, that has now exhausted its possibilities in the midst of the irreconcilable contradictions which have inexorably lead to its self-destruction; the other, that of the Andean Republic, is the ideal model shared by the villages in this part of the world. They believe that a radical change is necessary in which, once and for all, the power is recuperated by the authentic Andeans who for nearly five centuries have been marginalized, exploited, humiliated and oppressed.

Do you share the vindictive ethnic language ?

Our understanding of the problem maintains itself on the margin of racial issues, however we are clearly proud of the magnificent civilisation that was forged by our native ancestors, by the Andean race before it was mixed with others creating the mixed race that we have inherited and that we accept as an object fact. Racially we are of mixed race, but mentally we are Andean, let there be no doubt about that.

Ideologically we are made up of the cultural legacy left by the creators of our civilisation; the people of Lauricocha, Paiján, Pacaicasa, Toquepala and Ayampitín and the Incas, the admirable works of the people of Tumshukayco, Kotosh, Wayrajirca, Chavín, Paracas, Tiahuanaco, Moche, Nazca, Huarpa, Wari, Chimú, Huanca, Chanca, Chacha, Cajamarca, villages that over thirteen thousand years were solely responsible for the development of what should be the material and spiritual foundation of our national identity.

This perception does not deny the existence of the formation of economic classes, but underlines that in the Andes, before the tragic intervention of the West, there was development, progression, the well-being of the great majority, an ecological criteria, and an authentic philosophy for the common good. The dominant progressive classes also knew how to rule, with clear objectives and adequate planning for correct State functioning and production.

All this ended in 1532, was this perhaps the beginning of the downfall of Peru?

Without a shadow of doubt, 1532 marked the twilight of Andean history, with the fall of Atahuallpa in Cajamarca, and worse still in 1572, the triumph of Toledo, Túpac Amaru’s killer, Túpac Amaru being the last Inca of the patriotic redoubt of Vilcabamba. This event split our history in two, marking the decline of thousands of years of autonomous development and the beginning of colonial and ‘republican’ rule. An era of chaos began for the Andean villages with the initiation of a dependence that ruined our economic development. For the vast majority it foretold hunger, corruption, genocide, the crushing -for racist reasons- of those who had forged within the complicated Andean geography, one of the five great irradiating focuses of civilisation on a worldwide level. From then on our villages were governed by a “white-ocracy”. This is an objective and undeniable fact. It is possible that certain government figures existed that did not belong to this cast, but as soon as they entered in power they were converted into the lap dogs of this group recognising that they were totally outnumbered. Racism exists, on a large scale. That’s why in neighbouring villages, such as those of Bolivia, the protest cries are, “down with the whites”, just as in Peru on a number of occasions, for example in the development of the Guano and Salitre war. The people of this race on a local, regional and national level formed the majority of the ruling classes with their mixed race local politicians whom they paid off and “whitened up” with their vast fortunes. Meanwhile the “non whites”, the millions of people of mixed race who were disrespectfully referred to as “Indians” were prevented from forging their own destiny.

But was there a reaction to this imposition, this control?

Invariably, always. It began from the first minute of the Spanish invasion in 1532 and has continued up to the present day. There are few nations like the Andean nation that can boast such a strong tradition of heroic and bloody fights on some occasions reaching holocaustic levels. Indian, black and mixed race fights which are not mentioned in the official Criollo history books and neither by specialists wishing to avoid subjects potentially controversial to the ruling classes. History is written with an ideological criteria and hence there are two parallel histories: one to meet the tastes of the ruling classes and possibly supported by the governing bodies, and the other, the true history, maintained by tradition and recorded in a limited number of books. The fights of Manco Inca and Túpac Amaru, and those of libertarian leaders such as Francisco Chichima, Juan Chocne, Gabriel Manco Cápac, Vicente Mora Chimo, Juan Vélez of Córdova, Calixto Túpac Inca Yupanqui, Juan Santos Atahuallpa, the Túpac Amaru, Felipe Velasco, Juan Bustamante, Rumi Maqui and many others mark the history that so contradicts the false content of the national anthem, in which it tells that, “for many years the oppressed Peruvian, dragged his ominous chains, condemned to a cruel servitude, for ages whimpered in silence”. Nothing could be further from the truth, however our children are forced to sing these deplorable phrases that are only representative of the Criollo mentality.

So much has to change, but this will be a natural consequence of the model of social transformation. The national identity can only be properly built up when all of the populations of this vast territory feel that they are equal with common aims and this will only be possible with the establishment of the Andean Republic, when we finally achieve social justice, the common well-being with a Waqcha Cuyaq State which truly loves the majority that it represents. The Christian church itself declares this when it states that, “Without justice there will never be peace”.

Why do you predict that a process of radical change is near?

This is not a subjective appreciation of the situation, fruit of what one wants to see. It’s the verification of symptoms that have been seen in the fall of other social models: economic crisis, social and moral crisis, anarchy, corruption, a heightening of the class struggle (from top to bottom and vice versa), the existence of a clash of ideologies, etc. The ruling classes don’t want to put this crisis into perspective. They prefer to carry on as normal as if nothing was happening. Despite knowing that the model of society from which they have benefited is in danger, they don’t instigate changes but opt to maintain the ‘status quo’ although it will only be for a few more years. They can no longer offer anything attractive to the majority groups because demagogy also has a limit. Today, the dominant groups in Peru -with the government machine that represents them- lack a national project. They surely understand that their years of power are coming to an end, however their spokespeople take great pains to sustain the contrary. So it is that their last chances disappear as they drag the country further and further down. But so said the philosopher “the darkest hour comes just before dawn” and this new era, this authentic Pachacuti, is what we are beginning to see, with the construction of an Andean Republic whose coming is inevitable.