Tetela del Volcán, State of Morelos, Mexico, became a muncipio libre in 1935 with an ayuntamiento elected by town meeting. Today the ayuntamiento is externally chosen from a small local political elite. This movement away from a flourishing local political democracy to an externally dominated ayuntamiento and associated agencies of state or federal government seems common, at least among the Indian towns I know best. Tetela is perhaps different only in the speed and thoroughness of the process.
The political change has been accelerated by competition between two families with slightly different economic goals. Locally the two families, in peculiarly Latin fashion, have manipulated networks of relatives, compadres, friends, and clients. Occasional affinal links between the two networks expedite communication and compromises and serve to avoid direct confrontation. Competition for backing from state and federal agencies and officials has grown steadily so that today, although under some pressure to meet local demands, the ayuntamiento is regarded externally as an administrative agency to facilitate state or federal interests.
The data were collected by first classifying the population into three sectors according to local criteria and ratings. Members of the very small first sector were all interviewed along with adequate samples from the second and third. An orally administered questionnaire was then used, followed by extended open-ended interviews. Local, state, and federal archives were utilized. The salient results are presented in numerous tables and charts, biographies, and genealogies.
The book, one of a series of studies sponsored by the Centro de Investigaciones Superiores del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, is an excellent study of local political processes.
