The Spanish had come to Central America seeking, at least in part, to add to the store of precious metals that constituted the most immediate spoils of the Mexican conquest.

They are severely disappointed in this regard in the small colony that they dub El Salvador ("the savior").

What little gold is available is accessible only through the laborious and time-consuming method of panning, a process that consumes the effort of numerous impressed native laborers for a number of years.

Denied the opportunity for quick riches, the conquistadors and later the Spanish settlers eventually come to realize that the sole exploitable resource of El Salvador is the land.

El Salvador thus is relegated to the status of a backwater of the Spanish Empire.

In this state of neglect and isolation, the seeds of the country's politico-economic structure are planted.