i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

Wiwilí. Danilo had to show proof of ownership to recover the motor, but he never
pressed charges. Juan Jorlan was not often seen in the community from that point on.
The other worker who stole from Danilo arrived prior to the 2005–2006 harvest.
His name was Santos, but everyone called him Chele (not El Chele who works with
Adrian). He arrived at Danilo’s Finca El Pozo because Eliazar had left San Juan to travel
and Danilo was in need of extra help. Chele was familiar with farm labor. “Era bueno
con el machete (He was good with a machete),” according to Danilo, and was eventually
given a place to stay on the farm.
Chele worked hard on the farm. He was also very attentive around the house. He
brought the corn to the mill at 4:00 a.m. He hauled firewood in the evening. Much like
Eliazar, he ran small errands for Danilo and Marta. After a while, he began to take certain
liberties. One weekend afternoon, he asked to borrow our bicycle and promised to return
it later that day. Danilo subsequently commented that it was inappropriate for Chele to
have asked to borrow it. He was also bothered because Chele did not return with the
bicycle until the following afternoon. “Es mucha confianza (It’s very bold),” is the phase
Danilo used to express his disappointment. Later on, Danilo’s son Everst told me that he
overheard the Chele telling people in town that our bicycle was his.
This made everyone curious about Chele. He earned the nickname El Chele Loco
because of his drunken behavior and apparent ulterior motives. Chele left town a couple
of weeks after the Christmas holidays in 2005. He locked his room on the Finca El Pozo
and left without notifying anyone. Danilo was angry because he had advanced Chele a
couple of weeks’ pay. Chele returned after several days. Danilo was not going to allow
Chele into his room. Chele pleaded with Danilo, claiming to have “aceptado a Jesucristo
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