Sarah discusses history and impact of PROCEDE a government program to give private land titles to ejido land and reflects on the similarities to previous US programs to break up Oklahoma Indian Territory.

Hello everyone and a very happy new year to you! Well, I am back in Chiapas again, and my first week back was jumping with activity and definitely brought back to me why I’m here. On January 8th and 9th I co-facilitated a youth conference workshop in Benemérito de Las Americas on cultural identity and regeneration. My exchanges with the teenagers during the conference highlighted many of the similarities I see between the history of many Native American peoples (my own family’s history included) and the history and present situation of so many indigenous peoples here. A lot of our conversations centered on the importance of taking pride in your heritage and culture, but also on making responsible decisions when faced with projects that attack that same cultural identity and patrimony.

One part of the conversation that has stayed with me related to the government program called PROCEDE. The basic information about the program that I had heard previously really reminded me of what happened to the tribes in the Oklahoma Indian Territory when the U.S. government registered all of the tribal landholdings into the hands of individual tribe members and then opened up the remaining territory to incoming settlers. I decided to interview a Chiapanecan organizer that works with communities in resistance to PROCEDE to learn a little more. It was an interesting talk, and I think both of us learned a lot of history about the other’s country. Below are some of the results—I hope you find all of this helpful and interesting!

"Can you tell me what PROCEDE is and why it’s bad for indigenous communities?" this being my initial question. The initial response from the organizer: a deep breath as if we’re about to plunge into very deep waters… PROCEDE is a government program first begun in 1992, when the Mexican national government instituted changes to Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917. Article 27 had originally established that all land (be it agricultural, forested, etc.) in Mexico belonged to the nation, and that the government could give out rights of use to groups of people for purposes of farming or other things. The area of land given over to a group of farmers is called an "ejido." After the 1910 Revolution, the ejido was created to respond to the demands of indigenous small farmers (many of whom before the revolution did not have access to their own lands but rather worked for large land owners) for lands and credit so that they might overcome the conditions of extreme poverty and marginalization they faced throughout the country. While the system has many faults--namely that less-productive lands were distributed, technical aid is short in supply, and credits often end up being controlled and distributed according to political affiliations; at its core the ejido system has represented for many people the values set down in the Constitution: that it is the responsibility of the government to the well-being of its citizens and also to respect the varied communal cultural and societal norms of the indigenous peoples with the country.

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"So, what is PROCEDE and what does it have to do with all of this?!" these being my exact words, said respectfully but with a bit of exasperation to the organizer, who tends to talk in broad circles that can lead off into interesting but unrelated abysses of history and statistics.

The organizer, brought back from an interesting tangent on changes since 1917 to the Revolutionary Constitution, answers: Well, the Mexican federal government decided in the late 80's and early 90's to begin courting the United States and other countries for trade agreements. As you might guess, a country in which the majority of the agricultural land belongs to the nation doesn't look very attractive to corporation and investors accustomed to private property and the ability to call in debts through repossession of wealth. Also, in the traditional perspective (supported by international economic institutions such as the World Bank and IMF) of how to create economic growth, a country that has a majority rural population and whose agricultural production is heavily subsistence in nature needs to be encouraged to make the transition to a more urban-based industrial economy.

The changes to Article 27, with PROCEDE acting as the transition program to move forward those changes, are thus designed to make all of this possible.

PROCEDE stands for Program for Certification of Ejidal Rights. PROCEDE ratifies that ejido members' have individual (as opposed to collective) rights to their lands, and makes it possible for them to later act as private owners--in applying for credits, renting the land, or selling the lands to outside parties or losing it to creditors (as happened in the Oklahoma Indian Territory—aha!). This has been and will continue to be the result of PROCEDE, given that the technical support, credit, and access to markets needed to make these small farms viable decreases with each passing year. And, if it isn't clear yet, let's go back to this point: ejidos in Mexico are maintained in their majority by indigenous communities. The dismantling of the ejido system can thus be interpreted as a direct attack on indigenous forms of social organization, culture, and relationships with the land. Instead of supporting communities in their desire to stay on their lands and live from what they produce, PROCEDE effectively facilitates their departure from lands they have held for generations.

While the 1917 Constitution put down in words a certain level of respect and acceptance of indigenous peoples' rights, the deeds of the national government now show that that respect has all but disappeared.

It took about two hours and twice as many cups of coffee for the organizer and I to get even this level of understanding worked out. How much time and effort are most "ejidatarios" able to expend on understanding all of this before they register with PROCEDE, I wonder, especially given that many government officials have begun linking access to other support programs to participation in PROCEDE. But a lot of work is being done to inform people of their rights and to organize not only resistance to PROCEDE, but also (slowly but surely) resistance to the changes to Article 27 of the Constitution.

Article 27 came about as a result of intense pressure by indigenous campesinos on to reform the landholdings of the country and provide the (indigenous) people with access to lands which were theirs in the first place. And now, slowly but surely, what little access was granted is now being taken away by other means once again. It will take time, but many people do understand what is happening and are not prepared to let the government act in a manner that does not represent the needs and dreams of the Mexican people. Stay tuned…

If you’d like to read further, CIEPAC published a recent interview with a female ejido member regarding PROCEDE that is very interesting and highlights how participation in this program has begun to change relationships and practices within her community. The bulletin is only in Spanish thus far, but a translation to English should be available soon.

CIEPAC bulletin