LATIFUNDIO: CHARACTERISTICS, IN MEXICO, COLOMBIA AND SPAIN - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The term latifundio refers to the agricultural exploitation of a large area of ​​land. The size that this land must have varies according to each country, and ranges from hundreds to thousands of hectares. Etymologically, the word comes from the Latin latifundium (latus means "broad" or "extensive" and fundus means "root or first base of something").

This large piece of land is dedicated mostly -but not exclusively- to the planting of food for the consumption of its owners. Usually the term latifundio tends to be related to a negative situation, such as an inefficient exploitation of resources and with little regard for the workers who work in the field.

The size of a large estate varies according to the legislation of each country. Source: pixabay.com

However, and although it is not the common denominator, there are large estates that are a geared and efficient production machine, optimizing resources and maximizing the final result. They are the ideal role model, even though it does not happen in most cases.

Origin

Historically, the latifundio was the direct result of the distribution of lands after successful military campaigns, in which the victors stripped the defeated of their lands and, as a reward, assigned extensions of fertile lands to their most ferocious warriors or to the officers. most prominent.

Another route through which the latifundio was born was colonization. This process was experienced throughout the American continent, without distinction, from north to south; European explorers and conquerors generally took the lands by force. In any case, both origins have their common root in violence and land grabbing.

With the evolution of humanity, the latifundia knew other less reprehensible origins: for example, today political and socio-economic changes can be causes of the emergence of new latifundios.

characteristics

In general, a pejorative use of the word latifundio is made; This responds to the fact that the characteristics of this type of land exploitation mean that, in most cases, unfavorable situations are generated.

Despite this conception, the most relevant characteristics of a large estate can be objectively enumerated:

- Large tracts of single land or several integrated parcels managed by one or more partners.

- Extensions of flat land, plains or valleys. The sites with greater topography are discarded due to the difficulty of working them.

- In general, exploitation of a single resource throughout the land area.

- Low profit ratio per square meter of land worked.

- Underutilization of the land, without reaching its maximum levels of exploitation.

- Use of low technology in the process.

- Use of unskilled and underpaid labor, which generates social unrest.

Latifundios in Mexico

Legal framework

The concept that emerges from the texts of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation of Mexico indicates that latifundia are those extensions of land that exceed the limits of small property.

To explain this, it is detailed that it refers to 100 hectares of prime land, considering 150 in the case of cotton crops and up to 300 for valuable crops for the national interest, such as banana, sugar, coffee, olive tree, vanilla or fruit trees. among others.

It is also detailed that, in the case of livestock, the land necessary to maintain 100 head of cattle or its equivalent in other types of smaller livestock will be taken as a limit.

It is then understood that any extension of land that exceeds the limits described above is considered a latifundio in Mexican legislation.

Historic context

The first decade of the 1900s saw the final explosion of discontent that that nation's peasant class had been accumulating for centuries.

The laws applied during the 19th century, in which only the bourgeoisie of the time had access to negotiate land, left the working class in the background.

Without direct access to land, the workers depended on a paltry payment offered by the landlord. Undoubtedly, this threw them and their families into dire misery and living conditions. Then came the 1910 Revolution, waving the flag of social class equality and the benefits that this entailed.

Among the changes that took place came the so-called agrarian reform. This legislation, born in 1910 and in force since 1917, had as its main purpose the division and distribution of these large estates among the social class with fewer resources.

To this end, the government proceeded to expropriate and separate large parcels without use or production, to later auction them off in public auctions at extremely low prices.

Latifundios in Colombia

The history of large estates in Colombia is similar to that of other South American countries. Its beginnings date back to the times of the Spanish conquest, to the times of the feudal lords, outstanding officers and soldiers who were rewarded with large tracts of land.

This practice survived the passing of the centuries and it was in the contemporary history of different countries in the region that attempts were observed to change the way in which land and wealth were distributed.

In the particular case of Colombia, in 1936 Law 200 or Land Law was born. Thirty years later, in 1961, Law 135 was created, which finally touched on the issue of agrarian reform.

The ANUC (National Association of Peasant Users) also appeared in the foreground, a group that was the banner and pillar of this reform.

Current situation

The process in Colombia has been stalled, and it could even be said that it has even regressed due to the constant violence that dominates this country. Several authors estimate that to date and due to the siege of the violent actors in the area, the peasants may have lost between 4 and 6 million cultivable hectares.

This displacement of people and families, the fact of being dispossessed of land from which their daily sustenance was taken, as well as the inaction of government entities and the lack of real opportunities for decent jobs, has led many peasants to enlist. in the different armies that make life in their lands.

The actions of these illegal armed groups have brought countless difficulties to the region. Experts on the subject have estimated that it will not be possible to achieve equity in the distribution of land while armed groups clash daily for the control of strips of farms.

In this particular case, there can be no legal exploitation and enrichment if these armed groups use the land for prohibited crops and act themselves as landowners, paying miserable wages to peasants who have no other option to subsist.

Experts indicate that there is still some time left for the area to stabilize, to find peace in the country, to hold a ceasefire and to permanently lay down arms. Until then, no real change can be seen in the Colombian countryside.

Latifundios in Spain

The latifundio process in Spain does not escape the historical roots that are imposed around the world as a common denominator: the military conquest. In this case it is the so-called Christian Reconquest.

As is well known, during the Christian Reconquest the different military orders, the royals and the clergy were able to seize a very good part of the land acquired at the edge of the sword. The Castilians treasured Andalusian lands, those near the Strait of Gibraltar and those on the edge of the Mediterranean.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, after the expulsion of the Moors around 1610, Spain experienced an economic and social debacle despite the flourishing colonies on the American continent.

This was due to the forced displacement of the inhabitants and workers from the lands, and without labor they became impossible to work.

During this period, the latifundio phenomenon spread even more. The reason for this was that the large landowners were dedicated to cattle ranching and had sufficient power to make their cattle graze on their own land or on the land of small farmers.

Often, the lands of the latter were attacked and affected by the use of their small lands as a corral or as a trough for the cattle of some great lord, leaving no other way than to sell the lands to the highest bidder, usually the owner of the beasts, thus increasing their dominions.

Influential laws

In 1932 the Law of Bases of Agrarian Reforms appeared, which sought to rescue day laborers and yunteros (those who had a team of mules to plow the fields) from the abusive payments of landowners and, in some way, generate a fair distribution of land. However, its misapplication or interpretation caused further damage to the already battered system.

Spanish peasants faced a precarious situation during the Second World War and also later, in the post-war years, and this, together with the constant famine, made the issue of land distribution lose importance.

All of this happened while entering the second third of the 20th century, a time in which Spain experienced a leap towards modernization.

References

1. “Latifundio” in Wikipedia. Retrieved on February 9, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
2. “Latifundio” in Online Legal Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 9, 2019 from the Online Legal Encyclopedia: mexico.leyderecho.org/latifundio
3. "History of Land Reform" in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved on February 9, 2019 from Encyclopaedia Britannica: britannica.com
4. "History of Land Reform - Latin America" ​​in Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on February 9, 2019 from Encyclopedia Britannica: britannica.com
5. "The Fight Against Latifundio" in Diario La Semana. Retrieved on February 9, 2019 from Diario La Semana: semana.com
6. "The Latifundio as a Historical Constant" in Diario El País. Retrieved on February 9, 2019 from Diario El País: elpais.com