Concentration and “foreignisation” of land in Bolivia

Abstract

Abstract This article examines Bolivian agriculture and the recent changes in this sector in the department of Santa Cruz, including the functioning of regional land markets, the legal insecurity of property owners, environmental impacts, transnational initiatives and the institutional weakness of the state in the registration of land transfers. It also examines the history of the concentration of land in the hands of foreign citizens, particularly Brazilians, as part of the rapid expansion of soybean cultivation since 1993 and, more recently, in ranching. Cet article se penche sur la situation de l'agriculture en Bolivie et sur les changements récents qui sont survenus dans le département de Santa Cruz. Il porte plus particulièrement sur le fonctionnement des marchés fonciers régionaux, sur l'insécurité juridique des propriétaires, sur les impacts environnementaux, sur les initiatives transnationales et sur la faiblesse institutionnelle de l'état dans l'enregistrement des cessions foncières. Enfin, il présente un historique de la concentration de terres dans des mains étrangères, brésiliennes en particulier, en lien avec l'expansion rapide de la culture de soja depuis 1993 et celle plus récente de l'élevage. Résumé Cet article se penche sur la situation de l'agriculture en Bolivie et sur les changements récents qui sont survenus dans le département de Santa Cruz. Il porte plus particulièrement sur le fonctionnement des marchés fonciers régionaux, sur l'insécurité juridique des propriétaires, sur les impacts environnementaux, sur les initiatives transnationales et sur la faiblesse institutionnelle de l'état dans l'enregistrement des cessions foncières. Enfin, il présente un historique de la concentration de terres dans des mains étrangères, brésiliennes en particulier, en lien avec l'expansion rapide de la culture de soja depuis 1993 et celle plus récente de l'élevage. Keywords: land grabbingland concentration"foreignisation"soyaBolivia Notes Original Spanish text of this article was translated by Lee Mackey. Bolivia has the sixth largest area of tropical forests of any country in the world (PNUD 2008). In Bolivia the concept of a Social and Economic Function (FES) of land refers to the classical meaning of the productive use of land, which implies the deforestation and cultivation of land for purposes of agriculture. This is distinct from other countries, such as Brazil, where the concept incorporates the ecological functions of land and the dignity of rural workers. This expanded concept is captured by the term "socio-environmental function" of land (Ankersen and Ruppert Citation2006). The Autonomy Statute of the Department of Santa Cruz, approved through a departmental referendum in 2008, granted all powers of administration and titling of lands to the department's government. This statute will have to comply with the new national constitution that reserves this power exclusively for the national government. The presidential report of ANAPO in 2009 states that legal insecurity of lands is the factor that most negatively impacts the sector and thus is a priority that producers have placed on the agenda with the government. This association has been able to establish a permanent working group on the land question, comprising the Vice Ministry of Lands, INRA, CONFEAGRO, CAO and ANAPO, in order to correct the legal regulations that cause juridical insecurity. They reached a consensus on the regulation by INRA of slave and forced labour relations with the promulgation of Decree DS 0388. Coordination with the Vice Ministry of Lands has also begun a process to speed up the land titling process for medium and large properties of ANAPO members, although these steps have not yet become public knowledge. At the beginning of 2012, agro-industry in Santa Cruz gained the commitment of the government to change regulations and broaden the period for verification of the FES from two to five years. This section is based on two primary sources of information. The first source is interviews conducted in August of 2010 directly with producers, leaders of institutions and other individuals from the department of Santa Cruz. The second is interviews conducted by the Brazilian citizen Heloisa Marques Gimenez in 2009, as part of the research for her MA thesis at the University of São Paulo, the use of which have been authorised by the author. This thesis and the interviews conducted as part of this study are published online on the website of this university (Marques Gimenez Citation2010). In 2004, a comment to a group of journalists by the then director of INRA, Alcides Vadillo, that it was "a shame that the best lands in Bolivia are in the hands of Brazilian citizens", provoked concern from these leading foreign investors as well as a request for the director to meet with them in the city of Santa Cruz. In this meeting they asked the government for clear and lasting rules in order to stimulate greater foreign investment. Months later, this director of INRA was let go from his post. He now holds the position of Director of Fundación Tierra in Santa Cruz. The Eastern Lowlands Project was promoted and financed by the World Bank and the KFW of Germany through a loan agreement (211-Bo) for US$43 million. This was signed on 7 May 1990 and had the objectives of: increasing agricultural production oriented primarily towards the export of soybeans and related derivatives; sustainable management of natural resources; and the support of territorial access for indigenous peoples. The project was closed seven years later on 31 December 2007. The final report establishes that the project was highly successful and surpassed projected targets. In 1990, Mario Arrieta Citation(1990) perceived that the capitalist modernisation of Santa Cruz would imitate the agro-export model of Brazil. At a later date, Miguel Urioste Citation(2001) argued that the profitability of the soybean agribusiness model was based on the low price of land and, given the easy access offered to foreigners (especially Brazilians) with almost no environmental regulation, projected the soon-to-come loss of soil fertility. In his work of 2007, Mamerto Pérez correctly identified this trend of foreign dominance, especially Brazilian and later Argentinian, of land for agricultural use in Santa Cruz. Gustavo Medeiros Urioste Citation(2008) deepened the economic analysis of the vertiginous growth of soybean cultivation and the participation of Brazilians in this process. The Bolivian state does not know the number or nationality of foreigners who possess or rent lands in Bolivia nor the types of activities on these lands. However, the object of interest here is not so much the "foreign" character of land as much as the agribusiness model that these (trans)Latina companies transplant to Bolivia in the context of globalisation. Latifundia are pieces of property covering very large land areas. They were developed in colonial times, allowing forced labour recruitment and land grants for military services.