Editing Yucatán (section)

=== Canek rebellion, during the colonial Yucatán ===
{{Main|Jacinto Canek}}
Oppressive policies of inequality and prejudice were imposed on the native [[Maya peoples|Maya]] by the Spanish colonial government. In November 1761, [[Jacinto Canek]], a Maya from the town of Cisteil (now located in [[Yaxcabá Municipality]]), led an armed uprising against the government, which was quickly put down. Captured insurgents were taken to [[Mérida, Yucatán|Mérida]], where they were tried and tortured. As a warning to the population against rebellion, Cisteil was burned and covered with salt.

This abortive rebellion was not of great consequence to the colonial regime, but it marked the history of the peninsula and clearly delineated anti-colonial tensions in the region. The uprising was a precursor to the social upheaval that would explode less than a century later, as the [[Caste War of Yucatán|Caste War]]. The Canek rebellion is remembered today as a symbol of the racial and social conflict that predominated for centuries in the Spanish colonies.