Guatemala On Tap: Nation-Building, Social Order, and the Cerveceria Centroamericana in Twentieth Century Guatemala

Abstract

Guatemala's Cerveceria Centroamerciana is one of the country's most prestigious, recognizable, and successful national industries. Founded in 1885 by brothers Mariano and Rafael Castillo Cordoba, over the course of the twentieth century they effectively marketed their widely popular Gallo beer to the masses. They facilitated a shift in popular tastes, promoting beer consumption as a healthful and sophisticated alternative to other crudely concocted alcoholic beverages. Through sophisticated marketing they endeavored to create an illusion of national cohesion in a country with deep class, race, and ethnic divisions. In order to all the more entrench their position in the country's oligarchy and to ensure the longevity of their business, the Castillo's functioned as a mediator in the relationship between the state and society. While the consumption of Gallo beer offered an illusion of modernity, it all the more reinforced cultural assumptions and ascriptions of indigenous identity.