Political action and networks of ethnic solidarity among the Indians of Pasto at the time of independence

This article will sketch the antecedents and the context in which Indian peasants from Pasto and its surroundings established the links of ethnic solidarity and strategies of political action that would surface during the anti-republican rebellions that occurred between 1822 and 1825. It starts with the supposition that the peasant mobilization that made these rebellions possible was not led by the traditional elite, but was rather a remarkable expression of the indigenous communities' autonomy and the centrality of their actions. It will examine the experiences that made possible the building of social, ethnic, and political networks whose greatest expression occurred during the explosion of rural violence that shocked southern New Granada and northern Ecuador in the decisive period of the war against Spanish dominance.