Ladino is a Spanish term used to describe various socio-ethnic categories in Latin America, principally in Central America.

The term Ladino is derived from "latino" and usually refers to the mestizo or hispanicized population.^[1] The demonym Ladino came into use during the colonial era and referred to the Spanish speaking population that didn't belong to the colonial elite of Peninsulares or Criollos, nor to the indigenous peoples.^[2]

This term should not be confused with the Sephardi Jews whose traditional language is known as Ladino.

Contents 1 Guatemala 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading

[edit] Guatemala

The ladino population in Guatemala is officially recognized as a distinct ethnic group, and the Ministry of Education of Guatemala uses the following definition: "The ladino population has been characterized as a heterogenous population which expresses itself in the Spanish language as a maternal language, which possesses specific cultural traits of Hispanic origin mixed with indigenous cultural elements, and dresses in a style commonly considered as western."^[3] Consequently, the population censes include the ladino population as one of the different ethnic groups in Guatemala.^[4][5]

In popular use, the term ladino commonly refers to non-indigenous Guatemalans, as well as mestizos and westernized amerindians. The word was popularly thought to be derived from a mix of "Latino" and "ladrón", the Spanish word for "thief", but is not necessarily or popularly considered a pejorative.^[6]

It is sometimes also used to refer to the mestizo middle class, or also to the population of Amerindian peoples who have attained some level of upward social mobility above the largely impoverished indigenous masses, especially with regard to material wealth and imitating the North American lifestyle as much as possible. At times it can be used in a wider sense, meaning "any Guatemalan whose primary language is Spanish".

The second of these definitions is often used in indigenist rhetoric as a derogatory term for indigenous peoples who are seen as having betrayed their community to be part of the middle class, people who may go as far as to literally deny their Amerindian heritage. Rigoberta Menchú's famous and controversial memoir uses the term in such a way, which illustrates the use of the term in Guatemala in both a derogatory way (Amerindian to mestizo/ladino) and in the general mestizo/ladino community to define one's ethnic heritage.

[edit] See also

• Demographics of Guatemala

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

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