close to the nearest village, they controlled the livelihoods of dozens of mozos9 (workers) and

hundreds of their family members. The wives and children of mozos often work for the

landowners as servants and, when in town, spend most of their time at the patron's home, selling

any products they may have, such as produce and poultry, or helping the family with the harvest

or with milk and cheese production. Similar to haciendas, most Ladino family homes in the

community act as a central location for the mozos. A mozo or his wife typically attempt to sell

items to their patron before offering it to other Ladinos. As in any typical patron-client relation,

mozos frequent the homes of their patrons, asking for favors, loans, or advice, or just sitting and

chatting with whoever is around. Carlos' mother was a famous patrona who was very kind and

generous to her gente (people) and who was well respected in the village nearest her farm.

 Carlos decided to leave the farm in the care of his younger brother and use family

connections to migrate to Boston. Before he left for the United States, several of his Maya mozos

asked him to take them along. Despite the objections of his family, once he was established in

Boston, Carlos loaned money to several Maya men for the journey through Mexico. When they

arrived in Boston, he found them lodging, secured janitorial jobs for them at a prestigious Boston

university, and assisted them with political asylum applications. These initial Maya migrants

established their home village as the locus of Maya immigration to the United States. The story

of Carlos and the first sojourners is well known in the community, many of whom view it

unfavorably. Carlos' mother is one of the Ladinos who agrees that sponsoring Maya migration

was a poor decision and that Carlos assisted in the "demise" of the community:

 If it weren't for my son, none of those Inditos [damn little Indians] would have anything.
 They wouldn't be driving their fancy pick-up trucks or their women sitting around getting


9 Mozo is a complex term which literally means wage laborer. In San Pedro Pinula, it is usually the term used for
the client in a formal patron-client relationship. Mozos work for and are loyal to their patrons, and in some cases
may be loyal to one family for generations.