Denuncias, quejas y súplicas en cartas coloniales Colombo-Venezolanas

this study analyzes complaints and requests in colonial letters from mérida, santa marta and bogotá. these speech acts are considered dangerous for the image of interactancts. complaints and requests belong to non-politeness or political behaviour in the systems of social relations. they correspond to expected behavior but do not particularly favor the recipient？s face. they evidence social practices corresponding to norms, different from today′s, as hierarchies and social relations have changed. polite subjects, as we know them nowadays, are different from the ones represented in these letters, in which authorities were discharged of all responsability over the facts originating the complaint, although they were asked to reestablish justice.