themselves Liberals, after the worldwide movement of that
name. What liberalism means has changed over time. But
in the nineteenth century in the United States and Europe, it
was similar to what is today called libertarianism, and it
stood for freedom of individuals, limited government, and
free trade. Things worked a little differently in Guatemala.
Led initially by Miguel García Granados, and after 1873 by
Justo Rufino Barrios, the Guatemalan Liberals were, for the
most part, not new men with liberal ideals. By and large, the
same families remained in charge. They maintained
extractive political institutions and implemented a huge
reorganization of the economy to exploit coffee. They did
abolish the Consulado in 1871, but economic
circumstances had changed. The focus of extractive
economic institutions would now be the production and
export of coffee.
Coffee production needed land and labor. To create land
for coffee farms, the Liberals pushed throu