Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire and captured its capital at Tenochtitlán in
1521, the K'iche' sent ambassadors north to Mexico informing Hernán Cortés of their de-
siretobevassalsofthenewlyestablishedpowerstructure.In1523CortésdispatchedPedro
de Alvarado to Guatemala on a fact-finding mission meant to verify the veracity of the
tribe's claim. If indeed Cortés's intentions were limited to fact-finding, he could have done
better than to choose Alvarado for the job. Alvarado is described as handsome, athletic,
distinguished, eloquent, and graceful, among other things, from Spanish accounts of the
conquest. He was also extremely cruel.
Alvarado arrived in Guatemala along the Pacific Coast flatlands accompanied by 120
horsemen, 173 horses, 300 soldiers, and 200 Mexican warriors from the allied Tlaxcalan
armies. He made his way up to the highlands, where he met the K'iche' in battle near
present-day Quetzaltenango, also known as Xelajú. An estimated 30,000 K'iche' were un-
able to forge alliances with neighboring tribes to repel the Spanish invasion and faced the
Spanish alone. Legend has it Alvarado met Tecún Umán, grandson of the K'iche' ruler, in
hand-to-hand combat, cutting him down.
Following these events, the K'iche' invited the Spanish to their capital at Utatlán for the
signing of a formal surrender but secretly planned to ambush them from the safety of their
mountain fortress. Alvarado knew an ambush when he saw one and so he withdrew to the
city's outskirts, followed by the K'iche' rulers, whom he seized and later had burned at
the stake. Eight days of fighting followed, with the Spanish enlisting the help of the rival
KaqchikelstofinallygaintheupperhandagainsttheK'iche'.Utatlánwasthenburnttothe
ground.
The Kaqchikel alliance with the Spanish stuck for a time, with the Spanish establishing
the first capital of Guatemala alongside the Kaqchikel capital of Iximché, from which they
launched raids to conquer Guatemala's remaining highland tribal groups. The campaign
would last several years and was made increasingly difficult when the Kaqchikel severed
their alliance with the Spanish in 1526 in response to demands for tribute. They aban-
doned their capital at Iximché and took refuge in the mountains, launching a guerrilla war.
The Spanish then moved the Guatemalan capital, establishing the city of Santiago de Los
Caballeros on November 22, 1527. Now known as Ciudad Vieja, it lies near present-day
Antigua.
IndigenousuprisingsandresistancewouldcontinuethroughoutGuatemala'shistoryinto
the present-day as the various groups respond to repressive policies imposed by those in
power. The recently ended civil war has been likened by scholars, human rights activists,
and journalists to a kind of “second conquest” aimed at eliminating the indigenous popula-
tion through genocidal extermination attempts.
A final aspect of the conquest that bears mentioning is the work of European diseases
andtheirhandingreatlyreducingthepopulationoftheindigenouspeopleswhohadnores-
