Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 4. March 23 1981
History of Rebellion
History of Rebellion
A peasant uprising in 1931, bloodily repressed at the cost of c. 30,000 lives, ensured a strong military presence in the government for the next forty-eight years. The oligarchs of the "Fourteen Families" meanwhile made such a successful business out of coffee-growing that they were actually able to keep US companies out of the country (not that the people fared any the better), and recently have diversified into industry: their workforce is supplied by peasants fleeing to the towns from fighting in rural areas. Using massive electoral fraud, the government "won" elections in 1972 and 1977.