San Juan Cotzal Explained

San Juan Cotzal (pronounced as /es/) is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. San Juan Cotzal is part of the Ixil Community, along with Santa Maria Nebaj and San Gaspar Chajul.

History

Pre-Hispanic era

Worried about the defection of the aj K'ub'ul family chief, who had taken his family away to look for fertile and, above all, Pacific land, the K'iche' king sent a group of soldiers to control their movements. He was afraid that the aj K'ub'ul would look for reinforcements from other ethnic groups in the area to form a strong army and attack the K'iche's. The warriors settled to the east of the aj K'ub'ul and, since the K'iche's had moved away to look for an undisturbed place to settle, they were a peaceful community. The warriors informed the K'iche' king as much, reassuring him that he had no reason to worry about the exiled group.^[3]

As time went by, the K'iche' warriors realized that the aj K'ub'ul life was very different from the one they were used to have under the ruling of their king, as they simply worked on their land and crops and then enjoyed their families without having to worry about being invaded or called to fight in a war. They went back to their place of origin, Tujalj (Sacapulas and Canillá), but only to pick up their families, and went on to settle a new community where they were once stationed to keep an eye on the aj K'ub'ul.

Campaigns in the Cuchumatanes

See main article: Spanish conquest of Guatemala.

In the 10 years after the fall of Zaculeu, commencing in 1525, various Spanish expeditions crossed into the Sierra de Los Cuchumatanes and engaged in the gradual and complex conquest of the Chuj and Q'anjob'al. The Spanish were attracted to the region in the hope of extracting gold, silver and other riches from the mountains but their remoteness, the difficult terrain, and relatively low population made their conquest and exploitation extremely difficult. The population of the Cuchumatanes is estimated to have been 260,000 before European contact. By the time the Spanish physically arrived in the region, this had collapsed to 150,000 due to Old World diseases that had run ahead of them.

Uspantán and the Ixil

See also: Sacapulas and Ixil people.

After the western portion of the Cuchumatanes fell to the Spanish, the Ixil and Uspantek Maya were sufficiently isolated to evade immediate Spanish attention. The Uspantek and the Ixil were allies and in 1529, four years after the conquest of Huehuetenango, Uspantek warriors were harassing Spanish forces and Uspantán was trying to foment rebellion among the K'iche'.

Uspantek activity became sufficiently troublesome that the Spanish decided that military action was necessary. Gaspar Arias, the magistrate of Guatemala, penetrated the eastern Cuchumatanes with 60 Spanish infantry and 300 allied indigenous warriors. By early September he had imposed temporary Spanish authority over the Ixil towns of Chajul and Nebaj. The Spanish army then marched east toward Uspantán itself; Arias then received notice that the acting governor of Guatemala, Francisco de Orduña, had deposed him as a magistrate. Arias handed command over to the inexperienced Pedro de Olmos and returned to confront de Orduña. Although his officers advised against it, Olmos launched a disastrous full-scale frontal assault on the city. As soon as the Spanish began their assault they were ambushed from the rear by more than 2,000 Uspantek warriors. The Spanish forces were routed with heavy losses; many of their indigenous allies were slain, and many more were captured alive by the Uspantek warriors only to be sacrificed on the altar of their deity Exbalamquen. The survivors who managed to evade capture fought their way back to the Spanish garrison at Q'umarkaj.

A year later Francisco de Castellanos set out from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (by now relocated to Ciudad Vieja) on another expedition against the Ixil and Uspantek, leading eight corporals, 32 cavalry, 40 Spanish infantry and several hundred allied indigenous warriors. The expedition rested at Chichicastenango and recruited further forces before marching seven leagues northwards to Sacapulas and climbed the steep southern slopes of the Cuchumatanes. On the upper slopes, they clashed with a force of between four and five thousand Ixil warriors from Nebaj and nearby settlements. A lengthy battle followed during which the Spanish cavalry managed to outflank the Ixil army and forced them to retreat to their mountaintop fortress at Nebaj.

The Spanish forces besieged the city, and their indigenous allies managed to scale the walls, penetrate the stronghold and set it on fire. Many defending Ixil warriors withdrew to fight the fire, which allowed the Spanish to storm the entrance and break the native defences. The victorious Spanish rounded up the surviving defenders and the next day Castellanos ordered them all to be branded as slaves as punishment for their resistance. The inhabitants of Chajul immediately capitulated to the Spanish as soon as news of the battle reached them. The Spanish continued east towards Uspantán to find it defended by 10,000 warriors, including forces from Cotzal, Cunén, Sacapulas, and Verapaz. The Spaniards were barely able to organise a defence before the defending army attacked. Although heavily outnumbered, the deployment of Spanish cavalry and the firearms of the Spanish infantry eventually decided the battle. The Spanish overran Uspantán and again branded all surviving warriors as slaves. The surrounding towns also surrendered, and December 1530 marked the end of the military stage of the conquest of the Cuchumatanes.

Population

According to an official census performed by the Guatemalan National Statistics Institute (INE), the municipality had a total population of 14,137 in 1994; in 2002 this grew by 42% and in 2008 a study determined that there was an additional 29% increase. The following tables show the difference population classification in San Juan Cotzal:

By gender Gender Total 1994 Census % 1994 Census Total 2002 Census % 2002 Census Total estimated in 2008 % estimated in 2008 Male 6631 47 9,611 48 12713 49 Female 7506 53 10,439 52 13232 51 TOTAL 14137 100 20050 100 25945 100

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By age

Age range	Total 1994 Census	% 1994 Census	Total 2002 Census	% 2002 Census	Total estimated in 2008	% estimated in 2008
From 0 to 6	3436	24	5168	26	7005	27
From 7 to 14	3201	23	4493	22	5967	23
From 15 to 64	7080	50	9686	48	12194	47
More than 65	420	3	703	4	779	3
TOTAL	14137	100	20050	100	25945	100

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By ethnic group

Ethnic group	Total 1994 Census	% 1994 Census	Total 2002 Census	% 2002 Census	Total estimated in 2008	% estimated in 2008
Native	13236	94	19520	97	25167	97
Non-native	901	6	530	3	778	3
TOTAL	14137	100	20050	100	25945	100

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By location

Area	Total 1994 Census	% 1994 Census	Total 2002 Census	% 2002 Census	Total estimated in 2008	% estimated in 2008
Urban	5,069	36	9037	45	13232	51
Rural	9,068	64	11013	55	12713	49
TOTAL	14137	100	20050	100	25945	100

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