Land redistribution does not make a revolution. A critical view on the Costa Rican peasant settlements in the Arenal-Tempisque Irrigation District, 1981-2016

Abstract

Costa Rica is not an exceptional case to the rest of Central America in terms of its agrarian history and redistributive reforms. The creation of ITCO in 1960 and its project of land colonization with peasant settlements—the least threatening of all styles of agrarian reform—fails as an agrarian reform because of its limited redistributive scope, and because of the lack of interest in changing the power structures and concentration of the land in the countryside. This article examines the Costa Rican agrarian policy on peasant settlements through the history of the Bagatzí and Falconiana settlements in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, with a critical approach to agrarian reforms. As one more example of the class character of Costa Rican agrarian policy, the tension between the proposals of Israeli cooperation and the objectives of the Costa Rican State is evident in the rejection of a cooperative model for the settlements.

Keywords

• Agrarian reform
• peasant settlements
• rice monocrop
• international cooperation
• Costa Rica