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peonage

(Encyclopedia)peonage pēˈənĭj [key], system of involuntary servitude based on the indebtedness of the laborer (the peon) to his creditor. It was prevalent in Spanish America, especially in Mexico, Guatemala, Ec...

Morales, Jimmy

(Encyclopedia)Morales, Jimmy, 1969–, Guatemalan political leader, b. Guatemala City as James Ernesto Morales Cabrera, grad. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. A popular television comedian, he entered politi...

Hernández Martínez, Maximiliano

(Encyclopedia)Hernández Martínez, Maximiliano mäkˌsēmēlyäˈnō ĕrnänˈdĕs märtēˈnĕs [key], 1882–1966, president of El Salvador (1931–44). An admirer of fascist theories, he seized power during a p...

Native American languages

(Encyclopedia)Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...

Downing, Andrew Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Downing, Andrew Jackson, 1815–52, American horticulturist, rural architect, and landscape gardener, b. Newburgh, N.Y. With his brother Charles Downing, 1802–85, he took over the operation of the n...

Alvarado, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Alvarado, Pedro de älväräˈᵺō [key], 1486–1541, Spanish conquistador. He went to Hispaniola (1510), sailed in the expedition (1518) of Juan de Grijalva, and was the chief lieutenant of Herná...

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal

(Encyclopedia)Díaz del Castillo, Bernal bārnälˈ dēˈäth dĕl kästēˈlyō [key], c.1492–1581, Spanish conquistador and chronicler. He had served in the New World under various commanders—Pedro Arias de �...

Santiaguito

(Encyclopedia)Santiaguito, volcano, Guatemala: see Santa María. ...

Walker, William

(Encyclopedia)Walker, William, 1824–60, American filibuster in Nicaragua, b. Nashville, Tenn. Walker, a qualified doctor, a lawyer, and a journalist by the time he was 24, sought a more adventurous career. After ...

opossum

(Encyclopedia)opossum əpŏsˈəm, pŏsˈ– [key], name for several marsupials, or pouched mammals, of the family Didelphidae, native to Central and South America, with one species extending N to the United States...