Peasants and Religion This study permits the authors to open new perspectives for the understanding of key features of Dominican culture. It is based on an impressive empirical investigation and a penetrating contribution with respect to popular religion and messianic movements. Roberto Cassá, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo A remarkable and exhaustive study that should be required reading for anyone with a serious interest, not only in the island of Hispaniola, but in the Latin American peasantry and folk religion. Bernard Diederich, ex Time magazine correspondent for Mexico, Central America and the Carribbean Peasants and Religion is a very rare example of a work of ‘social science’ in the true sense of the word, one that transcends the traditional divisions between economics, history, anthropology and political science. Its analytical depth and richness make it a remarkably integrated contribution in the tradition of Gunnar Myrdal. Ronald Findlay, Columbia University Its importance lies in the attempt to show how this microcosm might explain the continuing power of religion. It provides a laboratory ‘experiment’ which could also explain the origins of the world’s great religions. Deepak Lal, University of California, Los Angeles The authors have given us a painstakingly detailed reconstruction of dramatic events. With a fine historical sense, they analyze the subject within the framework of economic and political change in the Dominican Republic. Magnus Mörner, University of Göteborg An ambitious and meticulous work, whose conceptual significance stretches well beyond the Dominican Republic. Allan Pred, University of California, Berkeley Peasants and Religion A socioeconomic study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola Movement in the Dominican Republic Jan Lundius and Mats Lundahl London and New York First published 2000 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © 2000 Jan Lundius and Mats Lundahl All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photo- copying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lundius, Jan, 1954– Peasants and religion: a socioeconomic study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola movement in the Dominican Republic/Jan Lundius and Mats Lundahl. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mateo, Olivorio, 1908–1922. 2. Dominican Republic— Religion—20th century. 3. Cults—Dominican Republic—History— 20th century. 4. Religion and sociology—Dominican Republic— History—20th century. 5. Palma Sola (San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic) —Religion—20th century. 6. Cults— Dominican Republic—Palma Sola (San Juan de la Maguana) — History—20th century. 7. Religion and sociology—Dominican Republic—Palma Sola (San Juan de la Maguana) —History—20th century. I. Lundahl, Mats, 1946– . II. Title. BL2566.D65L86 2000 306.6’097293–dc21 99–24619 CIP ISBN 0-415-17411-2 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-01696-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-22040-4 (Glassbook Format) Peasants and Religion Peasants and Religion examines the relationship between economics, politics and religion through the case of Olivorio Mateo and the religious movement he inspired from 1908 in the Dominican Republic. The authors explore how and why the new religion was formed, why it was so successful and why it was violently suppressed, considering such factors as the geographical and political context, changes in the international economic system and the arrival of modern capitalism in the country. Comparing this case with other peasant movements, they show ways in which folk religion serves as a response to particular problems which arise in peasant societies during times of stress. This fascinating work will be of importance across the social sciences, offering new perspectives on the development and influence of religion and on the much-noted links between peasant rebellion and religious cults. Jan Lundius is a research officer at the Department for Research Cooperation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SAREC/SIDA), Stockholm. He has worked as a consultant for several UN agencies. Mats Lundahl is Professor of Development Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics. His previous publications with Routledge include New Directions in Development Economics (1996), Economic Crisis in Africa (1993), Markets or Politics? Essays on Haitian Underdevelopment (1992) and Agrarian Society in History (1990). Routledge Studies in Development and Society 1 Searching for Security Women’s responses to economic transformations Edited by Isa Baud and Ines Smyth 2 The Life Region The social and cultural ecology of sustainable development Edited by Per Råberg 3 Dams as Aid Anne Usher 4 Politics of Development Cooperation NGOs, gender and partnership in Kenya Lisa Aubrey 5 Psychology of Aid A motivational perspective Stuart Carr, Eilish McAuliffe and Malcolm MacLachlan 6 Gender, Ethnicity and Place Women and identities in Guyana Linda Peake and D.Alissa Trotz 7 Housing and Finance in Developing Countries Edited by Kavita Datta and Gareth Jones 8 Peasants and Religion A socioeconomic study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola Movement in the Dominican Republic Jan Lundius and Mats Lundahl Contents List of figures xii Preface xvi Acknowledgements xx Some Spanish and Creole words that appear in the text xxi Map of the Dominican Republic xxv Map of the Olivorista heartland xxvi 1 Introduction 1 The subject 2 The local scene 3 A plausible story 5 Peasants and outsiders 8 The problem of oral transmission 13 The hidden transcript 15 The spiritual sphere 17 Religion in peasant society: a local phenomenon 19 The socioeconomic context: the failure to inculturate capitalism 25 The scene of modernization 27 PART I The events 31 2 Olivorio Mateo: the life and death of a peasant god, 1908–22 33 A strange savior 33 The source material: myth and reality 34 The field laborer 39 The great storm 47 The three signs 48 The cult site 60 viii Contents The thaumaturge 62 Promiscuity? 65 Life within Olivorio’s community 69 Olivorio’s teachings 75 The followers of Olivorio 79 The Olivorista dress 85 Olivorio and the Americans 88 The Haitian connection 103 On the run 112 Olivorio and urban residents 114 The death of Olivorio 117 The heritage of Olivorio 121 3 Interlude: the survival of Olivorismo, 1922–61 123 The occupation and the San Juan elite: resistance and collaboration 124 The Yanquis and the Olivoristas 127 Departure of the Americans and return of the caudillos 128 The San Juan Valley under President Vásquez: ‘The principality of the Ramírezes’ 134 The survival of the cult 137 The rise of Trujillo and the subjugation of the Ramírezes 143 Trujillo’s initial attacks on the Olivoristas 153 The Dominicanization of the San Juan Valley 156 The Ramírezes under Trujillo 161 Trujillo and the Olivoristas 166 4 Palma Sola: the revival of Olivorismo, 1961–62 171 Olivorio resurrected: the twins of Palma Sola 172 The foundation and organization of Palma Sola 179 The road to the massacre 193 The massacre 221 After the massacre 237 PART I I The myth 253 5 Olivorista lore 255 Folklore 256 A magical environment 265 Contents ix Olivorista salves 269 The great code 276 A legendary life of Olivorio 279 The salves and the theology of Palma Sola 298 The violent message: sectarians and outsiders 305 The hidden transcript of Olivorismo 306 Conclusions 309 Appendix: Jonestown and Palma Sola 310 PART I II The causes 315 6 Popular religion in the Dominican Republic and its influence on Olivorismo 317 The Indian presence in Dominican popular religion 319 The religion of the conquistadores 333 The cofradías: an Afro-Europan fusion 339 Other expressions of popular religion in the Dominican Republic reflected in Olivorismo 353 Rural prophets in the Dominican Republic 377 Conclusions 381 7 Economic and political changes in the San Juan Valley, 1503–1922 383 The San Juan Valley 384 The economy: the early years 390 In the doldrums 398 The creation of a trade pattern 404 Consolidation of the pattern 408 Land tenure: the rise of the terrenos comuneros 417 Destruction of the cattle economy 420 The Haitian occupation: the rise of a peasantry 425 The late nineteenth century 431 Property rights in land 437 Socioeconomic changes: the sugar industry 442 Changes in the Southwest 447 The border problem 453 Surveying the land 460 Political chaos and anarchy: the crisis of caudillismo 469 War and occupation 475 x Contents The gavilleros 477 A social bandit 482 Olivorio’s appeal 485 Who killed Olivorio? 489 8 A new era: economic change, politics and Palma Sola, 1922–63 493 The American heritage 493 The Vásquez years: irrigation and colonization 499 The Dominican economy under Trujillo 504 The San Juan Valley under Trujillo 511 The sección of Carrera de Yeguas at the beginning of the 1960s 520 Local politics and Palma Sola 522 National politics and Palma Sola 533 9 Justifying a massacre: official religion and ideology in the Dominican Republic, 1492–1962 560 The condemnation of Palma Sola 561 True