JUSTIFICACIÓN DE LA CONQUISTA Y
DOMINACIÓN DE LOS INDÍGENAS AMERICANOS

http://www.uv.es/~pla/solidaritat/justconq.htm

De larga vida la tal tesis, llega a América con la espada de los conquistadores y la cruz de los misioneros. Y aquí, en algunos casos, se radicaliza hasta el extremo de sostener que los indios americanos carecen de alma y no pertenecen a la especie humana. El Papa, para no amenguar la labor evangelizadora, tiene que intervenir y decir que sí tienen alma y que, por tanto, son hombres. Pablo III, en su bula Sublimis Deus –1537– tiene que declarar esto:

Nos, que aunque indignos, ejercemos en la tierra el poder de Nuestro Señor… consideramos sin embargo que los indios son verdaderos hombres y que no solo son capaces de entender la fe católica, sino que, de acuerdo con nuestras informaciones, se hallan deseosos de recibirla. (1)

Pero si bien la bula aludida saca de la animalidad al indígena, no por eso se libra de la inferioridad, calidad indispensable para justificar la conquista. Así el dominico Francisco de Vitoria, uno de los que sostienen que es justa causa de guerra la oposición de los bárbaros a la propagación del Evangelio, dice esto sobre los indios:

Esos bárbaros, aunque, como se ha dicho, no sean del todo incapaces, distan, sin embargo, tan poco de los retrasados mentales que parece no son idóneos para constituir y administrar una república legítima dentro de los límites humanos y políticos. Por lo cual no tienen leyes adecuadas, ni magistrados, ni siquiera son suficientemente capaces para gobernar la familia. Hasta carecen de ciencias y artes, no sólo liberales sino también mecánicas, y de una agricultura diligente, de artesanías y de otras muchas comodidades que son hasta necesarias para la vida humana. (2)

Más radical y menos dubitativo es el famoso fray Ginés de Sepúlveda. En su Tratado sobre las justas causas de la guerra contra los indios no se cansa de buscar motivos para justificar el sometimiento de los indígenas americanos, para lo cual acumula sobre ellos, junto con la consabida falta de razón, una serie de vicios y defectos. Y para su condena a los que llama hombrecillos con apenas vestigios de humanidad se basa, no sólo en Aristóteles, sino en San Agustín, Santo Tomás de Aquino y algunos pasajes bíblicos. Oídle:

Con perfecto derecho los españoles ejercen su dominio sobre estos bárbaros del Nuevo Mundo e islas adyacentes, los cuales en prudencia, ingenio y todo género de virtudes y humanos sentimientos son tan inferiores a los españoles como los niños a los adultos, las mujeres a los varones, como gentes crueles e inhumanos a muy mansos, exageradamente intemperantes a continentes y moderados, finalmente, estoy por decir cuanto los monos a los hombres.

La justa guerra es causa de la justa esclavitud, la cual contraída por el derecho de gentes, lleva consigo la pérdida de la libertad y de los bienes. (3)

Otro religioso, el dominico Tomás Ortiz, envía al Consejo de Indias una larguísima diatriba contra los indios caribes, donde constan los dos pequeños párrafos que copiamos a continuación:

Los hombres de tierra firme de Indias comen carne humana, y son sodomíticos más que ninguna otra generación. Ninguna justicia hay entre ellos, andan desnudos, no tienen amor ni vergüenza, son como asnos, abobados, alocados, insensatos; no tienen en nada matarse ni matar…

Cuando más crecen se hacen peores; hasta los diez o doce años parecen que han de salir con alguna crianza; pero de allí en adelante se vuelven como brutos animales; en fin, digo que nunca crió Dios tan cocida gente en vicios y bestialidades, sin mezcla de bondad o cortesía. (8)

Entre las varias acusaciones a los indígenas de América, únicamente citaremos esta, referente a los indios de la Isla Española:

Facilísimamente se juntan con las mujeres, y aun como cuervos o víboras, y peor; dejando aparte que son grandísimos sodomitas, holgazanes, mentirosos, ingratos, mudables y ruines. (11)

Para leer el articulo, click: http://www.uv.es/~pla/solidaritat/justconq.htm

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Slaughter of the Innocents:

Our people describe the beginning of the terrible slaughter
perpetrated by Pedro de Alvarado in the patio of the main temple in
Tenochtitlan. After mentioning the first rituals of the fiesta that
was being celebrated-a fiesta in which "song was linked to song"-
they tell how the Spaniards entered the sacred patio:

"They ran in among the dancers, forcing their way to the place where
the drums were played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut
off his arms. Then they cut off his head, and it rolled across the
floor.

They attacked all the celebrants, stabbing them, spearing them,
striking them with their swords. They attacked some of them from
behind, and these fell instantly to the ground with their entrails
hanging out. Others they beheaded: they cut off their heads, or split
their heads to pieces.

They struck others in the shoulders, and their arms were torn from
their bodies. They wounded some in the thigh and some in the calf.
They slashed others in the abdomen, and their entrails all spilled to
the ground. Some attempted to run away, but their intestines dragged
as they ran; they seemed to tangle their feet in their own entrails.

No matter how they tried to save themselves, they could find no
escape."

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The Massacre in the Main Temple During the Fiesta of Toxcatl

The Spaniards Attack the Celebrants

At this moment in the fiesta, when the dance was loveliest and when
song was linked to song, the Spaniards were seized with an urge to
kill the celebrants. They all ran forward, armed as if for battle.
They closed the entrances and passageways, all the gates of the
patio: the Eagle Gate in the lesser palace, the Gate of the Canestalk
and the Gate of the serpent of mirrors.

They posted guards so that no one could escape, and then rushed into
the Sacred Patio to slaughter the celebrants. They came on foot,
carrying their swords and their wooden or metal shields

They ran in among the dancers, forcing their way to the place where
the drums were played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut
off his arms. Then they cut off his head, and it rolled across the
floor.

They attacked all the celebrants, stabbing them, spearing them,
striking them with their swords. They attacked some of them from
behind, and these fell instantly to the ground with their entrails
hanging out. Others they beheaded: they cut off their heads, or split
their heads to pieces.

They struck others in the shoulders, and their arms were torn from
their bodies. They wounded some in the thigh and some in the calf.
They slashed others in the abdomen, and their entrails all spilled to
the ground. Some attempted to run away, but their intestines dragged
as they ran; they seemed to tangle their feet in their own entrails.
No matter how they tried to save themselves, they could find no
escape.

Some attempted to force their way out, but the Spaniards murdered
them at the gates. Others climbed the walls, but they could not save
themselves. Those who ran into the communal houses were safe there
for a while; so were those who lay down among the victims and
pretended to be dead. But if they stood up again, the Spaniards saw
them and killed them.

The blood of the warriors flowed like water and gathered into pools.
The pools widened, and the stench of blood and entrails filled the
air. The Spaniards ran into the communal houses to kill those who
were hiding. They ran everywhere and searched everywhere; they
invaded every room, hunting and killing.

...

The Mexica woman cries out: "Mexicanos, come running' They are
crossing the canal! Our enemies are escaping!"


The Priest of Huitzilopochtli calls out: "Captains, warriors,
Mexicanos! Our enemies are escaping! Follow them in your boats. Cut
them off, and destroy them!

---------------------------------------------------

"Mexicanos, now is the time! "


Warriors of Anahuak, now is the time! Who are these barbarians? Let
them come ahead!

The Aztecs took their prisoners to Yacacolco, hurrying them along the
road under the strictest guard. Some of the captives were weeping,
some were keening, and others were beating their palms against their
mouths.

When they arrived in Yacacolco, they were lined up in long rows. The
Spaniards went first, then their allies, and all were put to death.

As soon as the Mexica executed the Spaniards, the Aztecs ranged the
Spaniards' heads in rows on pikes. They also lined up their horses'
heads. They placed the horses' heads at the bottom and the heads of
the Spaniards above, and arranged them all so that the faces were
toward the sun. However, they did not display any of the allies'
heads. All told, fifty-three Spaniards and four horses were
sacrificed there in Yacacolco.

The fighting continued in many different places. At one point, the
allies from Xochimilco surrounded us in their canoes, and the toll of
the dead and captured was heavy on both sides.

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Gritan sus jefes, sus principales y dicen:

-Señores nuestros, mexicanos, tlatelolcas . . .

Un poco nos queda . . . No hacemos más que guardar nuestras
casas.

No se han de adueñar de los almacenes, del producto de nuestra
tierra.

Aquí está vuestro sustento, el sostén de la vida, el maíz.



***

No os desaniméis, no perdáis el espíritu. ¿A dónde hemos de ir?

¡Mexicanos somos, tlatelolcas somos!

***


Mexicanos,
-¿No más estáis allí parados? . . . ¿No os da vergüenza? ¡No habrá
mujer que en tiempo alguno se pinte la cara para vosotros! . . .


Acaso no sois Mexicanos?

...

Warriors of Tenochtitlan, come here! Your enemies are here! "

"Mexicanos, come here and join us! Who are these savages? A mere
rabble from the south!"'