Patricia Fumero Vargas provides an effective isthmus-level analysis of Central America's 1921 centenary celebrations. Indeed, Fumero conducted archival research in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to detail how each of these countries commemorated Central America's first century of independence from Spain.
In the book's first five chapters, which each center on a different republic, Fumero convincingly claims that the 1921 centenary provided regional political elites with the chance to civically engage and educate their citizenry. She suggests that by 1900 Liberal agro-export economic expansion had succeeded in funding the development of modern urban centers but had failed to create an educated patriotic populace. Most isthmians in 1921 were illiterate; therefore, the organization of patriotic parades and the erection of monuments to commemorate national and regional heroes, alongside other civic events organized for the centenary, provided large numbers of the popular classes with a rare opportunity for a civic education. The ruling elites of each country, however, focused on nationalist and regional elements in their centenary events that reflected their national conditions and aspirations. In the case of Costa Rica, for instance, students were showcased in centenary activities as a means of highlighting the nation's comparatively impressive public education system. Nicaraguans, on the other hand, chose to celebrate José Dolores Estrada's victory against US filibuster William Walker's forces at the Hacienda de San Jacinto in 1856. Fumero contends that by underscoring Estrada's heroism Nicaraguan elites were projecting their desires to oust the US Marines, who had been occupying their nation for over a decade in 1921.
As the centenary approached, US imperialism and Central America's political stability were of central concern for isthmian leaders. As Fumero documents, elites increasingly pointed to the restoration of the Federal Republic of Central America as a means of confronting these threats. In 1823, Central Americans organized a Federal Republic, which splintered in 1838. Several attempts were made to revive the federation, but none found as much traction as the 1921 movement. In January 1921, leaders from all five isthmian republics met in San José and signed the Pact of Union, which sought the creation of a supranational governing body. Unionists envisioned the dismemberment of national militaries and the formation of a supranational military alongside the creation of a regional court to ensure the peaceful resolution of disputes between neighbors. Additionally, many hoped that union would provide countries in the region with greater bargaining power in their negotiations with the United States. Fumero shows how the unionist flag, anthem, and other symbols took center stage in the centenary celebrations that Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorans organized.
Even though Fumero is quick to recognize that federation failed, she compellingly suggests that unionist politicians envisioned a more inclusive political structure that would shape political ideals in the isthmus in the years ahead. The stillborn 1921 Federal Constitution legislated a 40-hour work week, sought to restrict monopolies (a measure clearly directed at the United Fruit Company), and extended suffrage rights to women, among other progressive measures. The unionists’ progressive vision was eagerly embraced by the popular classes in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, but disquieted conservatives. Indeed, in December of 1921 a military coup in Guatemala marked the dissolution of the short-lived Central American tripartite union.
Throughout her book, Fumero highlights the role that women, students, and workers played in defining the public sphere, yet she does not allow individuals from these groups to speak for themselves in any significant way. Even though this may reflect the perspective provided in the newspapers and other documents she examined, Fumero might have chosen to read some of these sources against the grain to help bring into better clarity how the ideas of unionism impacted ordinary Central Americans in 1921.
Despite this critique, Fumero has produced a well-written and smartly argued transnational monograph that will no doubt be of interest to Central American scholars, especially those interested in twentieth-century nation-building.
