Outstanding post! Albion, thank you for the ping.
So, Salvavida, what stands out for me is the ignorance (lack of common education) and the void of religion (old Catholic influence) once thought to be better attributed to the lower Americas.
Can you speak to these influences? Did they ever exist? When did education and religion wane of influence?
War and communism may have certainly had its effects.
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Excellent point.
Catholic or most any other education has little to no influence in every day life. From my experience having both lived and worked in Central America, it's symbolic. No one is meditating on God's Word for directing lives other than the prosperity Gospel that Pentecostalism offers. The overall culture bares that out.