Book Reviews / Colonial Period 179

imagined. The study of Andean cultures and the Inca requires a better understand-
ing of Andean cosmology. To achieve this, an interdisciplinary approach is neces-
sary, using the data provided by archaeology, anthropology, and linguistic studies.
Nevertheless, Cahill’s contribution lies in the clarifications of how colonial
Cuzqueño society was influenced by both the Spanish administration and the Inca
past. As Cahill notes, “[T]he allure of the ‘the Inca’ for Creoles help[s] us to under-
stand the formation of political alliances between Creole and indigenous elites” ( p.
105). The appendixes of both fiesta accounts are valuable documentation for fur-
ther studies on the continuity of Inca culture.

carmen arellano, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American

Indian Cultural Resources Center

Tierra y poder en Salta: El noroeste argentino en vísperas de la Independencia.

By sara e. mata de lópez. Nuestra América, no. 9. Seville: Diputación de
Sevilla, 2000. Photographs. Maps. Tables. Figures. Appendixes. Bibliography.
367 pp. Paper.

Tierra y poder is a useful contribution to the history of late colonial Argentina. Sara
Mata de López presents, for the first time, a comprehensive picture of Salteña rural
society, and thus allows us to know the world of the hacendados and gauchos that
later on had a legendary role in the Wars of Independence. The work is based on a
thorough research that demonstrates the richness and potential of provincial
archives.
The book presents a study of the impact that the development of the colonial
market had on a regional society. The author shows how in the eighteenth century
the booming mule trade that supplied Upper and Lower Peru (the mules raised in
the southern provinces were fattened in Salta before they were sent to their final
destination) created an important real-estate market in the province. Thus, by the
second half of the eighteenth century most landlords in the Lerma valley had
access to the land through commercial transactions, and not through royal land
grants. This process also entailed a steady rise in the price of land, which placed
Salta’s estancieros and hacendados among the richest landlords of late colonial
Argentina — of this their luxurious urban properties stand in testimony. In spite of
the presence of wealthy peninsular merchants in Salta, ownership of land tended to
be dominated by creoles, who also had an important presence in the local cabildo
and thus proved to be more influential than many of their peers in late colonial
Argentina. And, as their intriguing possession of numerous books suggests, they
also seemed to have been far more educated than most landlords in colonial Río de
la Plata.
Although the life of rural Salta was dominated by large landowners, the
180 HAHR / February

author also pays attention to the complexities of the salteño countryside. Indian
communities were largely dispossessed of their lands in the seventeenth century,
and by the late colonial period most Indians lived as peons, tenants, or squatters,
with no land of their own. However, the author shows, there was an important sec-
tor of middle- and smallholders (largely of mestizo and Afro-mestizo background —
the latter being the largest ethnic group in rural Salta) that depended mainly on
subsistence agriculture but also supplied the city of Salta (the famous gauchos!)
In a prosperous economy, with an important subsistence agriculture and land
available in the eastern frontier, the author convincingly argues that labor tended
to be in short supply. Yet, this shortage was moderated by the markedly seasonal
demand of the mule trade and cattle ranching, which did not need a lot of labor
throughout most of the year. These commercial activities thus complemented the
subsistence economy of tenants, squatters, or smallholders, who met most of the
labor demand. This context enhanced the leverage of workers somewhat (that is,
there was no debt peonage); however, the majority of workers’ salaries was paid in
kind (usually at inflated prices). Thus the landowners minimized both their largest
operating expense and a drain on perpetually short cash supplies.
Overall, Sara Mata de López succeeds in her project, and provides a much-
needed account of rural northwestern Argentina in the late colonial period. Hope-
fully, historians will carry on with this line of inquiry into the independence period,
and show these legendary landlords and gauchos in action.

ariel de la fuente, Purdue University

National Period

Haciendo historia: Entrevistas con cuatro generales de las Fuerzas Armadas

Revolucionarias de Cuba. By néstor lópez cuba et al.
Preface by juan almeida bosque. Introduction by mary-alice waters.
New York: Pathfinder Press, 2001. Photographs. Plates. Maps. Glossary. Index.
203 pp. Paper, $15.95.

Scholars must exercise caution when reading works published by advocacy presses,
and this is a case in point. Released in Spanish by a well-known progressive outlet,
the book consists of interviews with four generals ( Néstor López Cuba, Enrique
Carreras, José Ramón Fernández, and Harry Villegas, a.k.a. “Pombo”) who partic-
ipated in the Cuban Revolution and later occupied prominent positions in the rev-
olutionary regime. The interviews with López Cuba, Carreras, and Fernández
took place in October 1997 (the month Che Guevara’s remains returned to Cuba).
The interview with Villegas took place in November 1998.
The October 1997 sessions consist of ideological cheerleading by two North