The Continuity of Hacienda’s Discourses and Practices in the Context of International and National Cooperation

Abstract

The history of the indigenous peoples of Latin America and Ecuador is closely associated with the hacienda system that disappeared thirty-five years ago. However, it remains in the context of international aid. From historical and ethnographic approaches of the indigenous communities settled in what once was known as the Hacienda Totorillas in Guamote, Ecuador, this article analyzes the continuity in social imaginaries, discourses and practices of the hacienda times through the interaction of these elements: non-governmental development organizations, government institutions and indigenous people. It is argued that public policy and its implementation are set under favour and gratitude logics from the old hacienda