The Chilean land reform () was a process of
land ownership restructuring that occurred from 1962 to 1973 in different phases. For much of the 20th century
agriculture was one of the most backward sectors of
Chilean economy. The land reform was initially supported by Chilean right, centre and left political parties plus the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. After the
1973 Chilean coup d'état
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état () was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity (Chile), Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist ...
the ruling right-wing dictatorship initiated a counter-reform that reverted part of it and directed Chilean agriculture into a "
neoliberal
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
" model.
Pre-reform developments
Chilean intellectuals like
Camilo Vial (1804-1882) had placed no particular emphasis on agriculture for the development of Chile while others like
Francisco Encina (1874-1965) considered Chilean agriculture irrelevant for economic and social development.
[Naranjo, Eduardo. 1997. ''Den Auktoritära Staten och Ekonomisk Utveckling i Chile'', ]University of Lund
Lund University () is a public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially founded in 1666 on the ...
PhD thesis. p. 118-119. Encina considered that Chile was ready for
industrialization
Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
.
[
Conditions in for early 20th century rural workers was harsh with ]Tancredo Pinochet
Tancredo Pinochet LeBrun (17 March 1880 – 1957) was a Chilean writer and politician.
Biography
Son of a remarkable family of teachers, his father was Marcos Fidel Pinochet Espinosa, and his mother, Isabel Le Brun de Pinochet, was a remarka ...
denouncing the poor conditions of workers in the hacienda
A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...
of president Juan Luis Sanfuentes
Juan Luis Sanfuentes Andonaegui (; 27 December 1858 – 16 July 1930) was President of Chile between 1915 and 1920.
Sanfuentes was the son of writer and politician Salvador Sanfuentes Torres and Matilde Andonaegui. Orphaned at an early age and ...
during his presidency (1915-1920). Within a dual sector economic model the 20th century Chilean hacienda
A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...
has been characterized as a prime example of a primitive and rural component. McBride, a Briton who visited Chile in the 1930s, is reported to have been "astounded" to see haciendas with "agricultural methods that reminds of ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
, Greece or Palestine."
Demands for a land reform appeared in Chile in the early 20th century and while neglected by the Radical governments (1938–1952) that favoured urban industrialization
Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
, in the early 1960s land reform ideas in Chile received support from both the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and, through the Alliance for Progress
The Alliance for Progress () was an initiative launched by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on March 13, 1961, that aimed to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. Governor Luis Muñoz Marín of Puerto Rico was a close ...
, from the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Among Chilean politicians Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chileans, Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party (Chile), Christia ...
expressed his view in 1958 that both minifundia and latifundia were detrimental for Chilean agriculture.[Naranjo, Eduardo. 1997. ''Den Auktoritära Staten och Ekonomisk Utveckling i Chile'', ]University of Lund
Lund University () is a public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially founded in 1666 on the ...
PhD thesis. p. 147.
The agrarian production in Chile contracted from 1950 onwards.[Naranjo, Eduardo. 1997. ''Den Auktoritära Staten och Ekonomisk Utveckling i Chile'', ]University of Lund
Lund University () is a public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially founded in 1666 on the ...
PhD thesis. p. 157. A government plan set up in 1954 to address this ended with meager results and in 1958 a new plan was presented.[ That plan allowed ]CORFO
The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from ) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile.
Originally, CORFO was responsible for the creation of ...
to develop investments in dairy plants, refrigerated
Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...
slaughterhouse
In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...
s, sugar refineries
A sugar refinery is a Refining, refinery which processes raw sugar from sugarcane, cane or sugar extracted from sugar beet, beets into white refined sugar.
Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contain ...
and transport infrastructure.[
]
Land reform
Alessandri and Frei administrations
In 1962, during the government of Jorge Alessandri
Jorge Eduardo Alessandri Rodríguez (; 19 May 1896 – 31 August 1986) was the 26th president of Chile from 1958 to 1964, and was the candidate of the Chilean right in the crucial presidential election of 1970, which he lost to Salvador A ...
, the first land reform law was promulgated.[ This law allowed for the distribution of ]state-owned
State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...
land among peasants.[ The next land reform law was passed in 1967 under the ]Christian Democrat
Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics.
Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...
government of Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chileans, Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party (Chile), Christia ...
, giving legal status to farmers syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...
s.[ A total of 100 thousand peasants became syndicalized in 400 syndicates.][ This law served also to ]expropriate
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
1400 land holdings totaling 3.5 million ha.[ In the case of the Catholic Church, it began in the 1960s to distribute its lands among ]peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...
s.[
Besides state reforms in the 1960s, Chilean ]communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
s and socialists
Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...
engaged in the formation of agriculture syndicates through La Frontera and semi-arid Norte Chico. The Christian Democrats did the same around Valparaíso
Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
and Aconcagua Valley and in the Central Valley locations of Curicó
Curicó () is a city located in Chile's central valley and serves as the capital of the Curicó Province, which is part of the Maule Region. Positioned between the provinces of Colchagua and Talca, the region stretches from the Pacific Ocean ...
, Linares and Talca
Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142.
The city is an important ...
.[ Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando; Estelle, Patricio (1974). ''Historia De Chile'' (14th ed.). Editorial Universitaria. . p. 788.]
Unidad Popular years
The Popular Unity government led by Salvador Allende that came to power in 1970 continued the land reform and, using the legal tools it inherited, attempted to expropriate all Chilean latifundia
A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious", and ''fundus'', "farm", "estate") was originally the term used by ancient Romans for great landed estates specialising in agriculture destined for sale: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were charac ...
(usually known as fundos or estancia
An estancia or estância is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias are located in the southern South American grasslands of Chilean and Argentine Patagonia, while the ''pampas'' have historically bee ...
s).[ Around 59% of Chile's agricultural lands were redistributed during the Chilean land reform.][ The ]hacienda
A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...
and inquilinaje institutions that characterized large parts of Chilean agriculture were eliminated by land reform.[
Economist and Pinochet collaborator ]José Piñera
José Piñera Echenique (born 6 October 1948) is a Chilean economist, one of the famous Chicago Boys, who served as minister of Labor and Social Security, and of Mining, in the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. He is the architect of Chi ...
claims that a " socialist paradigm" was behind the land reform.[ He adds that the reform evolved into a general attack against ]property rights
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...
and traces the origins of the Chilean nationalization of copper
The nationalization of the Chilean copper industry, commonly described as the Chilenization of copper () was the process by which the Chilean government acquired control of the major foreign-owned section of the Chilean copper mining industry. I ...
during the Allende years to the Chilean land reform.
Indigenous involvement
The indigenous involvement in the Chilean Land reform that is mostly known about is about the Mapuche-Huilliche communities in the Valdivia province. The Chilean newspaper ''El Correo de Valdivia'' communicates that there were at least 19 protests in the form of mobilizations and land redistribution
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...
that were made during December of 1970 to August 1973 from indigenous communities with the amount of involvement ranging from 12 to 150 people . Le Bonniec in his article "La participación de las comunidades mapuche-huilliche en el proceso de la Reforma Agraria en la Provincia de Valdivia
Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...
" mentions the probability that there were many more protests than the 19 mentioned, however the media did not report any of the rest, even so, the pressure of indigenous communities in the land reform is one that existed and that had many effects, especially on indigenous visualization and inclusion.
During this land reform not only did indigenous communities
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
form part of the resistance and the protest movement but they also formed part of the law amendments within Chile, regarding indigenous communities and land. In ''Historia de la Reforma Agraria en Chile'' written by José Garrido he writes about the politics of the indigenous land previous to the land reform and compares it to the changes made after the land reform.[1. Garrido R., José. “Historia De La Reforma Agraria En Chile.” Inicio. Universitaria, January 1, 1988. https://bibliotecadigital.ciren.cl/handle/20.500.13082/32376 . ] He mentions a previous law 14.511 in 1961 that recognizes indigenous people as with rights and tax responsibilities, however the goal to incorporate this law was not defined and Garrido describes it as an "increase of restrictions in respect to the indigenous capacity" (Garrido 195). Proving the state's minimal indigenous representation. This was further taken, Garrido writes, when in 1972 the indigenous law 17.729 substituted previous law 14.511 which prevented land titling and increased the necessary paperwork for indigenous people to formally and legally own their land.This remained true until 1979 when laws 2.568 and 2.750 modify it, finally facilitated indigenous ownership of land, through a free and less bureaucratic process. When describing this law Garrido mentions "(...)the policy promoted by the Minister Alfonso Márquez de la Plata and the Vice President of INDAP, Ricardo Hepp, reintroduces the idea of granting the Mapuches the same rights as those enjoyed by the rest of the Chilean nationality, by means of a first step consisting of the delivery of definitive land ownership titles." (Garrido 97) The decrease of a bureaucratic process for the ownership of their land provided integration for indigenous communities to the system. Their intervention in the land reform facilitated further integration.
We can visualize indigenous rights being modified by the comparison Garrido provides from before the land reform and after. Due to an indigenous underrepresentation in Chilean politics at the time, it can be induced that indigenous protests, mobilization and actions taken during the land reform contributed to this change in laws. Evidencing this idea, Article 72, section D of law 16640, the official Land reform law published in ''Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile'' dictates that one of the causes for preference when assigning land will be the provinces where Mapuche indigenous communities possess a land title, provided that they have been personally exploiting this land from November 21, 1965. In other words, if they had worked in any sort of way in the land since 1965, they can claim that land officially their own. This law also allowed for a decrease of exploitation of indigenous free work by landowners. Making a clear statement from these indigenous communities: present in the constitution, present in the country, present in the land reform process, before during and after.
One of the specific examples of the Mapuche-Huilliche involvement during this land reform, Le Bonniec writes, was the conflict of Fundo Malchehue, a property of Leno Monje with the community Dionisio Manquel Chepo. A form of protest of the indigenous community by expropriating land who was originally their ancestors. According to Le Bonniec, medias informed that 36 members of this community had taken over the land the 25th of November of 1971. It was confiscated by the indigenous people in order to form an Agrarian Center Reform. When interviewed, the community simply answered that the property was their ancestor's and it was illegally taken from them. Medias also informed that the indigenous actors were capacitated by what they named "extremists organizations". Le Bonniec writes about the underrepresentation indigenous communities go through when talking about the Chilean Land reform, their participation tends to be forgotten in the media and so, it was of extreme importance when one of their interventions in the land reform ended as a highlight in the media and it contributed to the narrative of their protest. Le Bonniec seems to hint that the importance of the land reform for indigenous communities relied on it being the start of indigenous empowerment, through land ownership.
Post-coup counter-reform
Following the 1973 coup that ousted Allende and brought Pinochet to power individuals and organizations that had benefited from the land reform were oppressed, notably in the first years of dictatorship.[Rytkönen, P. Fruits of Capitalism: Modernization of Chilean Agriculture, 1950-2000. ''Lund Studies in Economic History'', 31, p. 34.] In 1974 the military dictatorship begun an agrarian counter-reform.[Bellisario, Antonio (2007). ''The Chilean Agrarian Transformation: Agrarian Reform and Capitalist ‘Partial’ Counter-Agrarian Reform, 1964–1980''. Journal of Agrarian Change, vol 7, pp. 1-34.] Of the lands expropriated during the land reform about 30% were returned to its former owners during the military dictatorship era, an additional 5% was auctioned.Gabriel Salazar
Gabriel Salazar Vergara (born 31 January 1936) is a far-left Chilean historian. He is known in his country for his study of social history and interpretations of social movements, particularly the recent student protests of 2006 and 2011–12.
...
and Julio Pinto. 2002. ''Historia contemporánea de Chile III. La economía: mercados empresarios y trabajadores.'' LOM Ediciones LOM Ediciones («Lom», means in yaghan language: «sun») is a Chilean press based in Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It ...
. p. 153. Reformed lands owned by cooperatives were divided into individual properties.[ The 16½ years of military dictatorship neoliberal economic policies bought a new generation of capitalists to the rural world.][
Due to the lack of capital or credit to invest in their lands many ]peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...
s sold their lands after the land reform was over.[Rytkönen, P. Fruits of Capitalism: Modernization of Chilean Agriculture, 1950-2000. ''Lund Studies in Economic History'', 31, p. 43.] After the land reform there was a process of reconcentration of land ownership so that by 1997 the land ownership was more concentrated than it had been in 1955.[
According to scholar Patricio Silva the "]neo-liberal
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
" agriculture model implemented by the Pinochet dictatorship was only possible thanks to the land reform.[Rytkönen, P. Fruits of Capitalism: Modernization of Chilean Agriculture, 1950-2000. ''Lund Studies in Economic History'', 31, p. 5.]
See also
*Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli
Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli was a Chilean state-owned company that managed forested lands as well as sawmills in the Los Ríos Region#Andes, Valdivian Cordillera from 1971 to 1988. CFMP managed more than in the zones of Panguipulli, ...
* Great Drought of 1968–69
References
{{reflist, 2
1960s in Chile
History of agriculture in Chile
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
Presidency of Eduardo Frei Montalva
Presidency of Jorge Alessandri
Presidency of Salvador Allende
1960s in economic history
1970s in economic history
1970s in Chile
1962 in Chilean law