Agrarian land reform in Mexico
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Before the 1910 Mexican Revolution that overthrew Porfirio Díaz most of the land was owned by a single elite ruling class. Legally there was no slavery or serfdom; but through heavy debts Indian wage workers, or peasants, were basically debt-slaves to the landowners. A small percentage of rich landowners owned most of the countries farm land. With so many people brutally suppressed revolts, and revolution were common in Mexico. In order to relieve the Mexican peasant's plight and stabalize the country various leaders tried different types of agrarian land reform.
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[edit] 1856 Lerdo Law
Finance Minister, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada passess the Lerdo Law. The Lerdo Law allowed the government to force the sale of all Church real estate.
[edit] Land reform from 1910 to 1934
During the Álvaro Obregón presidency, Mexico began to concentrate on land reform. After the revolution, land was taken away from many people and distributed amongst the Mexicans. Obregon began to distribute the foreign own land back to its people, however, this process was very slow. Between the years of 1920-1924, only 12,000 km² was given to homeless peasants, only a portion of the unoccupied land. Many problems arose. Since Obregon feared the United States, he was very careful in implementing Article 27, signifying the slogan “Tierra y Libertad-Land and Liberty”, of the Constitution of Mexico which restricted the amount of Mexican land a foreigner can own.
The amount of land distributed was not as important as the process in which it was done. The development took place under legislation, the Constitution of 1917, rather than through more violence. The land allocation was not a way of confiscating land but rather giving the Mexican people back what was rightfully theirs. Land owners who got their land taken away were promised compensation. This was also written in the form of legislation so that it was officially followed through. Compensation consisted of the tax value of the land with an additional ten percent. In reality, only a small portion got this payment.
Although new Agrarian laws were written, they had limitations. For example, not everyone had the right to own land; most people who lived on plantations were excluded. People who lived in villages, on the other hand, had every right to land with some exceptions. Owners had to be eighteen years old, had to be agriculturists, could not be previous land owners, could not own more than $500 USD in capital and were not allowed to possess any other professional skill that would put them to an advantage over others. Also, the new owners could not sell or lease the land received. It could only be passed down from father to son, the same way an inheritance would be handled.
[edit] Cardenista land reform 1934 to 1940
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President Lázaro Cárdenas in 1934 passed the 1934 Agrarian Code and accelerated the pace of land reform. This amendment to the constitution:
- sets certain limits on division of land
- village land to be divided amongst individuals who have no right to mortgage or sell land.
[edit] Step back 1940 to 1970
Starting with the government of Miguel Alemán (1946-52) land reform steps made in previous governments were rolled back. The Alemán's government allowed capitalist entrepreneurs to rent peasant land. This created phenomenon known as neolatifundismo, where land owners build up large-scale private farms on the basis of controlling land which remains ejidal but is not sown by the peasants to whom it is assigned.
[edit] 1970 and statization
In 1970 President Luis Echeverría began his term by declaring land reform dead. In the face of peasant revolt he was forced to eat his words and embarked on the biggest land reform programme since Cárdenas. Echeverría legalized land invasions of foreign-owned huge private farms which were turned into new collective ejidos.
[edit] Land reform from 1991 to present
In 1988 President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected. In Dec, 1991 he amended the constitutional Article 27 to make it legal to sell ejido land and allow peasants to put up their land as collateral for a loan.
[edit] Effects of land reform
Today, most Mexican peasants are landowners. However, their holdings are usually too small, and farmers must supplement their incomes by working for the remaining landlords, and/or traveling to the United States.
