Latifundio and the logic of underdevelopment: the case of Venezuela’s Sur del Lago

Abstract

Underdevelopment in Venezuela is often understood as a product of oil dependence, weak state capacity or a subordinate position in the international division of labor. Yet all of these should be seen more as consequences of underdevelopment rather than its causes. This contribution posits an alternative explanation for underdevelopment in Venezuela based on rural property relations and their impact on industrialization and the diversification of the local economy. An in-depth case study of one of Venezuela’s most important agricultural regions seeks to uncover the internal productive logic of the region’s large rural estates, and argues that the dominance of these ‘latifundios’ and the resulting rural economy are at the root of underdevelopment in Venezuela.

Keywords:

• latifundio
• Venezuela
• development
• property relations
• agriculture
• industrialization

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Doug Yarrington and Charles Post for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Also, special thanks to Iriana Colina and Doug Yarrington for their help and guidance in navigating the archives in Venezuela.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Acervo Histórico del Estado Zulia (AHEZ): Registro de Tierras Baldías.

2 AHEZ, Registro de Tierras Baldías, 1893–1909 No. 86, 160; 1903, t. 6, l. 2; 1910, t. 24; 1911, t. 9, l. 24; 1915, t. 7, l. 7; 1915, t. 12; 1917, t. 7.

3 AHEZ, Registro de Tierras Baldías: 1898; 1905; 1910 t. 24; 1915 t. 12; 1917 t. 7.

4 AHEZ 1927: t. 3, l. 18.

5 AHEZ 1893:t. 18, l. 21.

6 AHEZ 1891:t. 16, l. 17.

7 AHEZ 1892:t. 8, l. 12; 1910, t. 6, l. 29.

8 AHEZ 1907:t. 2, l. 10.

9 AHEZ 1910:t. 7, l. 1; 1924, t. 2, l. 11; 1927, t. 5, l. 5.

10 AHEZ 1910:t. 6, l. 29; 1919, t. 4, l. 6.

11 AHEZ 1927:t. 5, l. 5.

12 AHEZ 1913:t. 3, l. 17.

13 El estado ruinoso de la agricultura, Panorama (1990–2010), 29 April 1936, 8.

14 Panorama (1990–2010), 21 April 1920, 1778.

15 Relación de los agricultores de café y cacao necesitados. Panorama (1990–2010), 13 December 1934, 3896.

16 AHEZ Gazeta Oficial de Zulia, October 21, 1895, 76; AHEZ Registro de Tierras Baldías, 1893–1909: e. 125, e. 173; 1910:t. 24, e. 50, e. 109, e. 180; 1915:t. 12; AHEZ 1914: t. 3, l. 11; 1918:t. 2, l. 11.

17 AHEZ 1910, t. 6, l. 28; 1919: t. 4, l. 4; Güerere (1951, 86).

18 Brillembourg requested at least 5,000 hectares between 1910 and 1924: AHEZ, Registro de Tierras Baldías 1910, t. 24, e. 16; 1915, t. 12, e. 23, 30; 1917, t. 7, e. 143; AHEZ 1909, t. 14, l. 8.

19 AHEZ 1919, t. 4, l. 4.

20 Registro Subalterno del Distrito Colón (RSDC 1912–1943), 1933, Trim. 3, Prot. 1, No. 22–23.

21 RSDC (1912–1943), 1927, Trim. 3, Prot. 1, No. 22.

22 RSDC (1912–1943), 1933, Trim. 3, Prot. 1, No. 26.

23 Ecos y Notas, Panorama (1990–2010), 27 April 1934, 3.

24 The original land sale deed notes various mortgages against the property (RSDC 1912–1943, 1933, Trim. 3, Prot. 1, No. 22–23) and likely more could be found if one were to follow the document trail through the years.

25 400 Mil Bs. en impuestos le debe Brillembourg al Concejo de Colón, Panorama (1990–2010), 11 September 1957, 16; El Banco Unión abrirá sucursal en Maracaibo, Panorama (1990–2010), 19 July 1958, 8.

26 Nuevo presidente del Central Venezuela, Panorama (1990–2010), 25 March 1966, 17; Veinte millones invertirán en matadero industrial de El Vigia, Panorama (1990–2010), 15 September 1964, 9.

27 Inversionistas zulianos adquieren importante volumen de acciones del Banco de Maracaibo, Panorama (1990–2010), 28 December 1985, 1; Las compañías de seguro no tenemos monopolio alguno, Panorama (1990–2010), 30 July 1987; Inversión millonaria hará Confinanzas en el Zulia, Panorama (1990–2010), 15 June 1991, 4–11.

28 Detenidas 80 familias al ocupar hacienda, Panorama (1990–2010), 22 August 1970, 38; No permitiremos que invadan a ‘Gran Vía’, Panorama (1990–2010), 25 April 1987, 4–9.

29 ‘A Gibraltar lo expropiaron’, Panorama (1990–2010), 23 July, 1991, 2–5.

30 No permitiremos que invadan a ‘Gran Vía’, Panorama (1990–2010), 25 April 1987, 4–9.

31 ‘Rescates en Sur de Lago marchan con buen pie’, Panorama (1990–2010), 29 December 2010, A-6.

32 Acusa a los Brillembourg de maniobras anti-obreras, Panorama (1990–2010), 7 August 1958, 18.

33 AHEZ, Registro de Tierras Baldías, 1893–1909, 272.

34 AHEZ 1903, t. 6, l. 2.

35 See note 2.

36 AHEZ 1910, t. 6, l. 28.

37 See Yarrington (2003) for a discussion of Gomez's various business dealings.

38 AHEZ 1927, t. 3, l. 18.

39 Ministerio de Salubridad y de Agricultura y Cría, Panorama (1990–2010), 22 July 1932, 2.

40 Ministerio de Salubridad y de Agricultura y Cría, Panorama (1990–2010), 22 July 1932, 2.

41 Lactuario Maracaibo, Panorama (1990–2010), 11 October 1942.

42 Inaugurada la nueva sede del Banco de Fomento Regional Zulia, Panorama (1990–2010), 22 June 1974, 31; Documento constitutivo estatutario del Banco Hipotecario Del Lago C. A., Panorama (1990–2010), 31 May 1977, 36; Registro de Comercio, Panorama (1990–2010), 2 May 1981, 66.

43 Soy enemigo de la miseria, Panorama (1990–2010), 16 July 1987, 4–11.

44 Census data indicate that 13 percent of agricultural land in Venezuela is currently under crop production, but this does not include potential agricultural land that is not included in the census data. The World Bank estimated this unused land to be about 20 million hectares (World Bank 1993).

45 Major groups include Cisneros, Polar, Mendoza, Zuloaga, Capriles. Smaller groups like Grupo El Chao would seem to fit what Naím (1989, 33) labels ‘miniconglomerates' which he describes as the common structure even among smaller firms in Venezuela.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chris Carlson

Chris Carlson is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His research is on the sociology of development, with a focus on agrarian relations and structural transformation in the global South.