Altamirano's Self-Deception

Though I knew that everywhere in Europe, states were tearing at the authority of the Church, and though I well knew that to preserve itself there, the Church must show its authority over the Jesuits here, I still couldn't help wondering whether these Indians would have not have preferred that the sea and wind had not brought any of us to them. (The Mission.)

This was a statement made by Altamirano as he was visiting Father Gabriel's remote mission of San Carlos. In this scene, it was clear Altamarino was deeply affected by the simple and faithful lives of the Guarani, he was coming to see the truth in Father Gabriel's words that these truly were "naturally spiritual people."

That being said, was this statement Altamirano's way of foreshadowing the horrific events to come? Perhaps, but it seems to be more than that. It's not a statement made for the sake of the viewers, but for his own as well. This is Altamirano's attempt at justifying his role in causing what he knows is about to be depicted. This is, after all, very much Altamirano's memoir.  Altamirano knows that he will inevitably cause the destruction of this Mission and the faithful people there, and is justifying his actions by basically saying, "The Guarani were doomed long before I was sent, they were doomed when the wind and the sea blew the first Spanish settlers here." (Let us also note that the Spanish/Portuguese settlers are not faulted, but the wind and the sea that sent them.)

So what is the point of all this? To blame Altamirano, point out that he tried to cast fault for the slaughter of hundreds/thousands onto the weather? Not necessarily. Just as Pilot used a symbolic washing of the hands to distance himself from Christ's crucifixion, Altamirano uses fate/nature to do the same for himself. Yes, we can all agree that it would have been better for the Guarani to have lived untouched by European settlers. Given that that was not the case, their well-being should not have been disregarded and assumed to be beyond defending, as it seems Altamirano wants us to believe. For the Guarani, living in the Mission was certainly better than slavery or indentured servitude, and absolutely better than death.

Altamirano was correct in his assertion that it would have been better for the Guarani if the Europeans had never come, but he was wrong if he thought that was justification for forcing them out of their territory and allowing them to be murdered. Confronted by a decision between power and conscience, Altamirano ultimately chooses power, and when filled with regret, seems to look back on his actions and say, "I would not be guilty if this situation had never come about in the first place."