Santa Catalina La Tinta

Santa Catalina La Tinta on the map of Guatemala

Santa Catalina La Tinta (also called La Tinta only ) is a city in Guatemala and administrative seat of the greater community ( municipality ) in the department of Alta Verapaz. In the 196 km ² large municipality of about 30,000 people live in La Tinta about 3000.

Geography

The Santa Catalina La Tinta is located south of Alta Verapaz to about 200 m altitude. The municipality extends between the Sierra de Chama to the north and the Sierra de las Minas in the south in the valley of the Río Polo Chic. The climate in the valley is influenced by the tropical lowlands Izabals, in mountain areas, it is more temperate.

The municipality is bordered to the west on the community Tucurú, on the north by Senahú, to the east by Panzós, to the south and southwest by the departments of Zacapa, El Progreso and Baja Verapaz.

History

The village was called in the language of Pocomam Tuxilá. In Tuxilá Catholic monks of the Diocese of Verapaz had a convent. 1863 began with the dealer Heinrich Rudolf Dieseldorff the immigration of Germans to Alta Verapaz. President Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón (1873-1885) promoted the settlement of German origin, they endowed with privileges from, ejidal lands could expropriate the former tenants were servants. The indigenous people of Tuxilá lived in Barrio La Línea, at the Barrio Nuevo Campo and in the Aldea Sacsuhá. Dieseldorff had acquired the Finca Chipoc in Coban and operational Tuxilá in a factory, in which from Indigofera indigo color was produced. On August 14, 1896, he left the Finca Rustica entered in the land register of Alta Verapaz # 12 and described it as Aldea La Tinta. The name referred to the blue, ink -like dye, which is generally only called La Tinta. A lying nearby settlement was first mentioned in 1770 under the name of Santa Catalina.

1890 was almost the entire coffee production area in German hands. The workers of the villas were paid with money that emitted their German employers themselves and had validity only in the retail operations of the respective villas themselves or other selected stores. In this way, Alta Verapaz was an almost autonomous economic area in Guatemala. Because of the needs of the export-oriented economy was with German capital and expertise, the infrastructure of the region improved: there was, among other things, the railway company Ferrocarril Verapaz y Agencia del Norte Limitada. It operated in the Polo Chic valley between Tucurú and the inland port at Panzós a very important for the coffee export railway line. Coffee and indigo barrels were transported from the station Tuxilá about Panzos, the Lake Izabal and the Rio Dulce to the Caribbean port of Livingston and then on to Germany.

Jorge Ubico Castañeda was in 1897 and in 1906 was appointed military officers to the governor of Alta Verapaz, where he, a nephew of Rudolf Dieseldorff met Erwin Paul Dieseldorff. He was responsible for the enforcement of existing laws such as the compulsion to fly from workbooks and added this to the Ley contra la vagancia, the Erwin Paul Dieseldorff, Cafetalero Finca Santa Margarita, had translated from the legislation of the German Reich for German South-West Africa.

After the founding of La Tinta, the place was one of the Aldea Municipalities Panzós. Long-standing efforts of the citizens of La Tinta, it is thanks to them that the Government of Guatemala, the Aldea on 11 November 1999 spun off from Panzós and rose to the municipality. On this occasion the name of Santa Catalina La Tinta was officially established.

Population

Originally, the area was inhabited by Pocomam. With the establishment of the indigo plant by diesel Dorffs the increased labor demand was initially met from the neighboring Tucurú, live in the mainly Pocomchí. Then more immigrants from San Pedro Carcha, where it was almost only Kekchi came. German and Spanish descent mingled with them, making the Ladino folk group emerged. Because of the rather heterogeneous population composition as well as Spanish and Kekchi Pocomchí is spoken.

Economy and Transport

The road through the Polo Chic - valley to Lake Izabal and on to the Caribbean was once one of the most important trade routes in Guatemala. Therefore, La Tinta long time was very low. However, this changed with the construction of the Atlantic Highway CA 9, a little further south of Guatemala City leads through the valley of the Río Motagua to Puerto Barrios. Santa Catalina La Tinta is now off the main roads. At El Rancho branches 9, the well-developed highway CA 14 north towards Alta Verapaz on the Atlantic Highway CA. In the southernmost municipality Tactic in San Julian, the curvy and partially unpaved national road 7 runs eastwards through the Polo Chic - valley to Izabal. In this way, there are around 245 km from Guatemala City and about 100 km to Coban, the capital of Alta Verpaz. At regional level, La Tinta continues to be a major trading center in the Polo Chic Valley. On Tuesdays and Thursdays there is a big market. The most important industry is agriculture, especially the cultivation of coffee, cardamom, maize and beans.