De Pie y En Lucha! Populist Rhetoric and the Rise of the National Council of Indigenous Peoples, 1970–84

This paper examines the rise and fall of the National Council of Indigenous Peoples (CNPI) during the 1970s and mid-1980s.  Very little has been written about the CNPI, and what does exists usually reduces the analysis of the organization to one of complete manipulation by government officials and portrays it as highly inefficient.  Yet, the history of the organization is much more complex and certainly more significant than its 15 year run indicates.  In fact the CNPI ushered in a new generation of indigenous leaders who understood that the changes in the political and social sphere of the 1970s (emergence of Luis Echeverria's populism) presented new spaces in which to operate and negotiate ethnic identity and citizenship.  In addition, the creation of the Council also redefined the relationship between government officials (local, regional and federal) and indigenous communities, as well as created a corporate hierarchy that indigenous communities used to push demands from below.  The rising influence of the CNPI also directly challenged the political and economic capital over a rural political identity held by the CNC (National Peasant Confederation).  While its existence was certainly short-lived for a number of reasons, the CNPI was more than a symbolic organization, certainly effecting change, not only on local levels but also at the federal tier.

The paper is based on the memoirs of one of the key leaders of the CNPI as well as correspondence between CNPI members and government officials.  I also utilize the minutes from CNPI meetings between 1975 and 1984.  Finally, secondary sources to properly contextualize the role of CNPI during the Presidencies of Luis Echeverria, Jose Lopez Portillo and Miguel de la Madrid, are incorporated.