Government.
(Book - Regular Print)

One of the author's "Jungle novels."

Translation of Regierung.

Depicting the political corruption that infected even the smallest villages in Mexico, the novel tells the story of Don Gabriel, a minor government functionary who has a virtual license to steal from the Indian village where he is secretary--except that the Indians have nothing to steal. By chance he finds an opportunity in the labor agent business, shanghai-ing luckless Indians into debt slavery so that he can ship them off to work in the great mahogany plantations owned by foreign capital. The novel reaches its climax in a clash of cultures between the simple dignity of the illiterate Indians and the cynicism and corruption of the politicians and petty bureaucrats.