Brandon H. Lee and Dr. F. Lamond Tullis, Political Science
Modifications to article 27 of the Mexican Constitution made in January 1992 tremendously altered the land tenure system in rural Mexico. These modifications allow ejidatarios (landholders who possess a usufruct title to the land) to obtain an individual title to their land through a government program known as PROCEDE (the Program for Certification of Ejidal Rights and Titling of Urban House Lots). Having this title allows for the sale, purchase, or rental of lands. It also permits joint ventures with domestic and foreign private investors. Prior to the amendment, farmers claimed usufruct use of the land granted by the 1917 Constitution. According to the law, they could neither sell nor rent the land. Land rights have generally been inherited by the children of original ejidatarios or have illegally sold the rights to others.
To gain an understanding of this program, and more importantly, the landholders’ reaction to it, I spent approximately two months living in Santa Barbara in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Santa Barbara is an ejido community with approximately 1,300 residents, 67 of which are ejidatarios.
For the first two weeks in the community, I struggled with my methodology and exactly what was the best way to capture the reaction to the program. Although unsure of exactly where I was headed, I conducted a census in the community to acquaint myself with the people and ask them if I could return and interview them. This gave me time to work out a plan as to how I wanted to conduct my field research. I also spent time in the nearby city of Irapuato speaking with government officials and rural development agents to understand their point of view.
Through my contact with the government officials in charge of PROCEDE, I learned that the decision to begin the program was made by only 36 of the 67 ejidatarios (those that attended and voted at the initial meeting of PROCEDE). I then decided to focus my time on interviewing these individuals. Of the 36 ejidatarios that attended the meeting and consequently made the decision to go ahead with the program, I interviewed 29 ejidatarios.
In my interviews, I first wanted to get a sense of the individual. I asked questions concerning his or her land (how much they possess, what they grow, whether or not they have irrigation, etc.), level of education, wealth, information access to out-of-community sources, literacy, leadership in the community, and access to credit. I then questioned them about their knowledge of PROCEDE, what they thought the results of the program would be, how they felt about it, what motives the government had in proposing the program, and finally, why they voted in favor of it.
The answers to these questions varied greatly. Generally, those who had more contact with the government officials and rural development groups seemed to know more and were more supportive of the program than those with little or no contact. I also noticed that those with more wealth were more likely to be in favor of the program as well as those who were literate.
This does not preclude the fact that some wealthy and literate ejidatarios are against it—anomalies do exist (I wish to note that I gathered quantitative data and will soon do a statistical analysis as part of my honor’s thesis to determine significance among the independent variables such as amount of land, education wealth, etc., and the dependent variable of degree of satisfaction with the program).
In nearly every interview, many doubts about the purpose of PROCEDE and the future of landholding in Santa Barbara surfaced. Fear of future taxes, distrust of government motives regarding the program (fear of expropriation), and most evident, a sense of powerlessness were the primary concerns voiced by the ejidatarios.
Although no outright coercion is forcing the ejidatarios to accept PROCEDE, many informants felt the government pressured them into the program with “threats.” The Mexican government is currently giving a subsidy to farmers called PROCAMPO. Many stated that if they did not enter into PROCEDE, they would be ineligible for PROCAMPO and any other future government program intended to benefit the ejido. The officials involved in promoting and executing the program also state that the program is completely free now, but in the future will cost a tremendous amount of money to complete the certification process (PROCEDE).
In speaking with government officials in charge of PROCEDE, I found these “threats” to be substantive and part of the rhetoric employed by the promoters to induce ejidatarios to accept the certification process. Hence, the ejidatarios feel powerless and the majority of them see no purpose in any sort of organized resistance.
Uncertainty concerning the program was also very prevalent among the ejidatarios. This uncertainty, which is in nearly all cases accompanied with fear and suspicion, is due to what one ejidatario believes is a lack of education. He essentially believes that the lack of education leads to an inability to understand government programs. Lack of understanding translates into fear and skepticism which he sees leading to an inability to make wise decisions.
Among the ejidatarios that I interviewed, only 2 of 29 have an elementary education or higher and only 13 are literate. Obviously, there is a tremendous lack of education among ejidatarios in Santa Barbara. If this ejidatario’s theory holds true, this community will experience a difficult transition from communal to privately owned land in the coming years.
Overall, my field work in Santa Barbara this summer was a great success despite the fact that it was my first time. I feel that the data which I collected reveals much concerning the efficacy of the government programs in Mexico, the relationship between the state and ejidatarios, what factors can attribute to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction with PROCEDE, and the ejidatarios’ confidence (or the lack of) in a system that has been stricken by corruption and inefficiency.
I plan to use this experience as a springboard for future research, seeing that at the time I conducted the research, the program was not yet completed. I hope on returning to conduct more extensive and accurate research in the future.