The Rise of Agro-Extractive Capitalism

614 Pages·2017·29.08 MB·English

The Rise of Agro-Extractive Capitalism
Insights from Guatemala in the early 21st century

Alberto Alonso-Fradejas
1
© Alberto Alonso-Fradejas 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
by the author.

ISBN 978-90-6490-086-0

2
The Rise of Agro-Extractive Capitalism
Insights from Guatemala in the early 21st century

De opkomst van agro-extractief kapitalisme
Inzichten uit Guatemala in het begin van de 21e eeuw

To obtain the degree of Doctor from the
Erasmus University Rotterdam
by command of the Rector Magnificus

Prof.dr. R.C.M.E. Engels

And in accordance with the decision of the Doctorate Board

The public defence shall be held on
Monday 10 September 2018 at 16.00 hrs

by
Alberto Alonso-Fradejas
Born in Barakaldo, Spain

3
Doctoral Committee
Doctoral dissertation supervisors
Prof.dr. M.N. Spoor
Prof.dr. S.N. Borras
Other members
Prof.dr. M. Edelman, Hunter College and City University New York
Dr. H. Pérez Niño, SOAS, University of London
Dr. M. Arsel

4
To granny Martina and all of the “indispensable ones” in this world…

5
Acknowledgements
Certainly, I am the only one responsible for the contents, errors and omissions of this work. Nonetheless,
I would have never been able to endure the doctoral journey and complete this manuscript if not for the
support of many others. There is simply too many important people to properly acknowledge, so please
bear with me comrades, friends and family.
First and foremost, I am most grateful to my promotors Max Spoor and Jun Borras for their guidance,
encouragement and support. A great example of Brecht´s “indispensable ones”, you two helped me
growing into the enfant scholar-activist I am today. Maraming salamat! Heel erg bedankt! Thanks a
million to Murat Arsel and Jenny Franco, my scholarly mentors in the shadow even if the latter might
think otherwise. I am very grateful to Sergio Sauer and Eric Holt-Giménez for introducing me to Jun at
the first land-grabbing conference at the IDS-Sussex in 2011, and thereby guiding my steps towards the
ISS. Thank you to all the ISS faculty, especially to those currently and formerly part of the Political
Ecology research group including Murat Arsel, Mindi Schneider, Oane Visser, Julien-Francoise Gerber,
Cristóbal Kay, Ben White, Bridget O´Lauglin and Marc Wuyts. Special thanks to all ISS administration
and secretariat teams, especially to Sharmini Bisessar-Selvarajah. Thank you also to ISS´ facilities team, to
my friends from the security and cleaning services, and of course to the “Butterfly Queens” Sandy and
Dinneke. Too many to name one by oneat the ISS, but please be certain you have been an unmatched
support during my doctoral trip during both challenging times and on an everyday basis.
I am profoundly indebted to all Guatemalans who are part, directly or indirectly, of this research. They
include the many Maya-Q´eqchi´, other ethnic Mayans and non-indigenous women and men of different
ages who welcomed me and share their perspectives, fears and illusions with me. I am very grateful to my
activist-research comrades from the Guatemalan Institute of Agrarian and Rural Studies (IDEAR) with
whom we worked, learned, enjoyed and sufferes for years in the northern lowlands, including Jochen
Dürr, Fernando Alonzo, Teresita Chinchilla, Domingo Montejo and especially my comrade, friend and
mentor Jose Luís Caal Hub, b´antyox compa! Thank you also to Sara Mingorría and Gonzalo Gamboa
from ICTA-UAB for sharing concerns, hopes, friendship and socio-metabolic comradeness in the
Polochic valley and beyond. Thank you also to Helmer Velásquez and all my comrades in IDEAR and
CONGCOOP: Pablo Sigüenza, Juan Pablo Ozaeta, María Vargas, Arlyn Jiménez, Zully Morales, Diana
Vásquez, Josue Chavajay, Katja Winkler, Alejandro Aguirre, Nuria Mejía, Juan Carlos Us Pinula, Byron
Garoz, Frank Garbers, Junny Mejía, Álvaro Caballeros, Norayda Ponde, Lilian López, and especially
Susana Gauster.
In addition to those who were or still remain part of the IDEAR, there are dozens of comrades and
friends in Guatemala I´m deeply indebted to for different reasons I cannot describe in detail here. Any
ways, they know. They are Laura Hurtado, Emanuel Bran-Guzmán, Álvaro Revenga, Liza Grandia,
Georg Grünberg, Bayron Milián, Silvel Elías, Pablo Prado, Wilson Romero, Enrique Corral (long life
comrade!), Quimy de León, Nelton Rivera, Jorge Macías, Abelino Chub (free!), Santiago Bastos, Megan
Ybarra, Angelina Snodgrass Godoy, Poncho Porres (luciérnaga combativa), Lucrecia, Ana y Patty Ardón,
el Cheto, René Chacón, Rovoham Monzón, Edwin Bracamonte, Grecia Méndez, Victor Hugo Ramos,
Lorena Pereira, Iliana Monterroso, el Lobo, Leocadio Juracán, Mauro Vay, Ana Bustamente Cruz, Luisa
Samayoa, Alejandro Arriaza, la Yeya y el Pelón, Anna Avidano, Simone Dalmasso, Adele Tibaldeschi, and
more generally, my comrades from CUC, CCDA, CODECA, AMR, UVOC, ACDIP, CONDEG,
CNOC, the Social Pastorals, USAC, URL, La Cuerda, PRODESSA, El Observador, SERJUS, CALDH,
Mesa Global, AVANCSO, Madreselva, Ceiba, Asociación de Abogados Maya, SANK, Luciérnaga,
ComunicARTE, H.I.J.O.S., Mama Maquín, ACOFOP, Caracol Producciones, Red Tz´ikin and so many
other organizations committed to social justice in Guatemala. A very special thanks to my family in
6
Antigua, including Manu and Casa del Mango, Emas, Fofo, Alecsis, Lar, Álvaro, Sana, Miren, Renato,
Erick, Guayito, Nora, Txomin, Saruka, Gonzalo, Roberto, and Liliana.
Back to the Netherlands, I am most grateful to all my comrades at TNI (Transnational Institute) for their
comradeness and support in the darkest hours, especially to those part of the Agrarian and environmental
Justice team namley Pietje Vervest, Jenny Franco, Lyda Forero, Zoe Brent, Sylvia Kay, Katie Sandwell,
Tim Feodoroff, Mads Barbesgaard and Carsten Pedersen. Very special thanks to Tom Kramer, Khu Khu
Ju and many comrades and friends from Myanmar from whom I keep learning so much. Thank you also
to my fellow villagers at the ISS and beyond for their insights, patience and encouragement, including
Tsegaye Moreda, Zoe Brent, Ben McKay, Christina Schiavoni, Martha Robbins, Elyse Mills, Daniela
Andrade, Yunan Xu, Salena Tramel, Clara Park, Giulio Iocco, Umut Kocagöz, Sergio Coronado, Mauro
Conti, Antonio Roman-Alcala, Gustavo Oliveira, Pierre Merlet, Ana Victoria Portocarrero, Ratha Thuon,
Nadine Reis, Natalia Mamonova, Sue Mark, Robin Thiers, Jin Zhang, Donna Hornby, Natasha Bruna,
Amod Shah, Boaventura Monjane, Chunyu Wang, Carol Hunsberger, Juan Liu, Sara Vigil, Daniela
Calmon, Anne Siebert, Yukari Sekine, Adwoa Gyapong, Melek Mutioglu, Eric Gutierrez, Arnim
Schiedel, Cecile Fameree, Luis Felipe Rincón, Li Hua, Corinne Lamain, Valeria Recalde, Claudia Schur
and Razack Karriem. I am very grateful to Salena Tramel for her commitment in the painstaking task of
copy-editing this dissertation. Thank you also to Zoe Brent, who didn´t think twice about answering my
call for help to copy-edit one chapter. And a very special thanks to the rest of my fellow “phders” at the
ISS throughout all this years.
Thank you to all the friends I made during these years in Den Haag, especially María de Vargas, Mariam,
Bianca, Giulio, Danielle, Olga, Kostja, Suzzy, Shikha, Sat, Holger, Unaity, Rogers, Giulia, Gustavo, Tatuli,
Srushti, Jan Willem, Paula, Constance, Tamara(s), Zelalem, Byni, Zemzem, Farzane, Mansooreh, Alma,
Brandon, Tefarah, Juan David, Fasil, Renata, Clarissa, Darío, Zohanny, Carolina, Nico, Zsofi, Emiel,
Kaia, Dirk, and Adriana because “tú hiciste de mi vida un cuento para niños en donde naufragios y muertes son
pretextos de ceremonias adorable” (A. Pizarnik). Thank you Gaby and Cape for sharing infinite office hours
shoulder to shoulder. Mila esker to my friends and comrades from the “Basque Planet”, especially to
Davide, Ibontxu, Uri and Miguel, Jorge, Iñigo, Santi, Mikel, Julen, Gorka, Inestxu, Aintzane but also to
Piero, Joka and Lorena. Big thanks to my friends from Benegiles, Zamora, especially Aguila, Vale, Titi,
Coroco, Óscar, Fitu, Purito, Casiano, Richard, Tomeo, David, Javi, Marco, Fernando, Álvaro, Lydia,
Noelia, Nuria, Esther, Mea, Ali, Rober, Mari, Eva, Carmen, Rocío, Turiño, Juan, Biri, and Jose Ignacio. I
am grateful to all comrades and friends from the LDPI, BICAS, ICAS and ERPI scholar-activist
networks, as well as from FIAN, La Via Campesina, the IPC for Food Sovereignty, and the Journal of
Peasant Studies.
Thank you so much to my amazing family, especially to my beloved aunties and uncles Ezequiel, Isabel,
Justa, Cari Lali, Carmen, Teo, Antonio, Luís, Josep, Fidel, Puri and Jose. Thank you to my dear cousins
Pablo, Antonio, Javi, Ricardo, María, Esther, Jesús, Rubén A., Charo, Ruben B., José Luís, Conchi, Leyre,
Aymar, and Edgar. Very special thanks to my beloved “lil” brother Alex, of whom I cannot be more
proud, and to my dear friend and sister in law Idoia.
Finally and very specially, I am deeply grateful to my parents, Agenor and Carmina, for their
unconditional love and support to this internationalist and rebellious son of theirs. Individually and
together, you two are simply awesome! Thanks a million to my peasant grandpas Cipriano, Nica,
Fernando and especially granny Martina, beloved matriarch warrior who surely was among those who
inspired Bertolt Brecht to claim “there are those who struggle for a day and they are good. There are those who struggle
for a year and they are better. There are those who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who
struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones”. La lutxa sigue!
7
Table of contents
List of figures _____________________________________________________________ 12
List of tables ______________________________________________________________ 13
Glossary _________________________________________________________________ 14
Abstract _________________________________________________________________ 17
Samenvatting _____________________________________________________________ 19
Chapter 1 Introduction _________________________________________________________ 21
1.1. Convergent global crises in the early 21st century _______________________________________ 21
1.2. A research problematique and question: Resource extractivism and agro-environmental change in the
early 21st Century ______________________________________________________________________ 23
1.3. An in breadth and depth investigation: Analytical approach and methodological strategy outline __ 28
1.4. The rise of agro-extractive capitalism: Core insights from Guatemala in 2006-2014 ____________ 32
1.5. Dissertation overview ___________________________________________________________ 36
Chapter 2 Analytical approach, methodological strategy and research methods ___________ 39
2.1. General analytical approach _______________________________________________________ 39
2.1.1. A broadly cast critical agro-environmental political economy approach ___________________ 39
2.1.2. The agrarian question as a methodological umbrella __________________________________ 42
2.2. A genealogy of agro-environmental change during convergent world crises in Guatemala _______ 43
2.3. Analysis of change and continuity in agro-ecological, policy and social structures ______________ 45
2.3.1. Materialist criteria for the identification of agrarian classes and fractions __________________ 46
2.3.2. Socio-cultural criteria for the intersectional analysis of class structures and differentiation_____ 49
2.4. Interactive analysis of productive relations in agriculture _________________________________ 51
2.4.1. Forces of production and productive relations in agriculture ___________________________ 55
2.4.2. Labor relations ______________________________________________________________ 60
2.4.3. Land relations _______________________________________________________________ 63
2.4.4. Financial relations ____________________________________________________________ 67
2.4.5. Knowledge and technology relations _____________________________________________ 71
2.4.6. Ecological relations ___________________________________________________________ 73
2.5. Multi-dynamic analysis of the politics of agro-environmental change _______________________ 79
2.5.1. Who is involved in the politics of agro-environmental change? _________________________ 88
2.5.2. How do politics of agro-environmental change unfold? _______________________________ 89
2.6. Research methods ______________________________________________________________ 92
2.6.1. Semi-structured interviews _____________________________________________________ 95
2.6.2. Participant observation and observant participation __________________________________ 96
2.6.3. Two waves of gender-differentiated panel household survey ___________________________ 97
2.6.4. Geographic information system analysis ___________________________________________ 98
2.6.5. Secondary source analysis _____________________________________________________ 100
2.6.6. Soil analysis ________________________________________________________________ 100
2.6.7. Water analysis ______________________________________________________________ 101
2.6.8. Documentary films __________________________________________________________ 102
PART I Setting the stage __________________________________________________ 103
Chapter 3 A genealogy of the agro-extractive capitalist project _______________________ 103
3.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 103
8
3.2. Agro-extractive mercantilism: Dynamics of agro-environmental change under imperialism in
Guatemala circa 1871-1943 ______________________________________________________________ 106
3.3. The social-democratic project of agro-capitalism from Below: Cold War agro-environmental change
in Guatemala during 1944-1954 __________________________________________________________ 117
3.4. Bullets and beans agro-capitalism: Cold War agro-environmental change in Guatemala circa 1955-
1985 122
3.5. Purge agro-capitalism: Agro-environmental change under neoliberal globalization in Guatemala circa
1986-2005 ___________________________________________________________________________ 132
3.5.1. Macro structural adjustment ___________________________________________________ 137
3.5.2. Sectoral adjustment __________________________________________________________ 140
3.5.3. Outcomes of the neoliberal onslaught on the countryside: Purge agro-capitalism __________ 153
3.5.3.1. Agro-environmental politics during peace negotiations __________________________ 160
3.5.3.2. Agro-environmental politics during the first peace decade _______________________ 162
Chapter 4 The “green gold” pandemic in the Guatemalan agro-ecological, social and policy
structures during 2006-2014 ____________________________________________________ 169
4.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 169
4.2. The rise of the Guatemalan flex cane and palm complexes under the convergent global crises
conjuncture __________________________________________________________________________ 175
4.2.1. Flex cane and palm commodity fever in Guatemala in the early 21st century ______________ 177
4.2.2. Cane and palm as favorites of the “Almighties” ____________________________________ 181
4.3. Change and continuity in the agro-ecological structure _________________________________ 184
4.4. Change and continuity in the social structure _________________________________________ 189
4.4.1. Dominant agrarian classes _____________________________________________________ 190
4.4.2. Subordinate agrarian classes ___________________________________________________ 196
4.4.2.1. Empirical identification of subordinate agrarian classes and fractions _______________ 197
4.4.2.2. Features and differentiation tendencies for subordinate agrarian classes _____________ 200
4.5. Change and continuity in the policy structure ________________________________________ 210
4.5.1. Neoliberalism 2.0: The policy structure under the Global Redesign Initiative and neo-institutional
paradigms ________________________________________________________________________ 211
4.5.2. Accumulation for dominant agrarian classes _______________________________________ 213
4.5.3. Integration and safety nets for subordinate agrarian classes ___________________________ 218
PART II Interactive analysis of productive relations in Guatemalan agriculture under
converging global crises ___________________________________________________ 225
Chapter 5 Labor relations ______________________________________________________ 225
5.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 225
5.2. Labor and labor market _________________________________________________________ 228
5.3. Flex palm companies’ labor regime fix and plantation workers ___________________________ 232
5.4. Flex palm companies’ labor regime fix and palm fruit suppliers __________________________ 242
5.5. Flex palm companies’ labor regime fix and other labor regimes in farming __________________ 244
Chapter 6 Land relations ______________________________________________________ 253
6.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 253
6.2. Land control mechanisms by flex cane and palm companies _____________________________ 257
6.2.1. Land deals by flex cane and palm companies with dominant agrarian classes ______________ 259
6.2.2. Land deals by flex cane and palm companies with subordinate agrarian classes ____________ 260
6.3. Implications of land control mechanisms by flex cane and palm companies on land relations ___ 272
6.3.1. Implications for fragmented agrarian classes to gain, regain and expand land access ________ 273
6.3.2. Implications for fragmented agrarian classes to maintain and control land access __________ 282
9
Chapter 7 Financial relations ___________________________________________________ 293
7.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 293
7.2. The “financialization 3.0” wave of the Guatemalan economy ____________________________ 297
7.2.1. The state as creditor and debtor ________________________________________________ 298
7.2.2. Private finance and financiers __________________________________________________ 301
7.3. Financialization 3.0 in the flex cane and palm complexes _______________________________ 307
7.3.1. Financial fix upgrading old financial tools: Heightened and diversified bank loans __________ 309
7.3.2. Financial fix through new financial tools: Securitization ______________________________ 310
7.4. Financialization 3.0 for subordinate agrarian classes ___________________________________ 316
7.4.1. Credit relations of fragmented subordinate agrarian classes in the northern lowlands _______ 317
Chapter 8 Knowledge and technology relations ____________________________________ 323
8.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 323
8.2. Knowledge and technology relations in the flex cane and palm complexes __________________ 326
8.2.1. Knowledge and technology relations in cane and palm farming ________________________ 328
8.2.2. The Knowledge fix in flex cane and palm commodity production ______________________ 329
8.2.2.1. Flex cane commodity production __________________________________________ 331
8.2.2.2. Flex palm commodity production __________________________________________ 334
8.3. Knowledge and technology relations in subordinate agrarian class farming __________________ 336
Chapter 9 Ecological relations __________________________________________________ 345
9.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 345
9.2. Social metabolism of flex cane and palm commodity production _________________________ 349
9.2.1. Appropriation and use of environmental goods ____________________________________ 349
9.2.2. Pollutants and waste in flex cane and palm commodity production _____________________ 353
9.3. Ecological relations in flex cane and palm commodity production ________________________ 361
9.3.1. Ecological relations of access to environmental goods _______________________________ 362
9.3.2. Ecological relations of pollutants and waste transfer ________________________________ 368
9.3.3. “Acclimatization” of flex cane and palm commodity production _______________________ 372
Chapter 10 The agro-extractive capitalist project ___________________________________ 377
10.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 377
10.2. Agro-extractive capitalist productive relations in historical perspective _____________________ 382
10.2.1. Historical traits ___________________________________________________________ 382
10.2.2. Historical distinctiveness ___________________________________________________ 385
10.3. On agro-extractive capitalist productive relations _____________________________________ 391
10.3.1. The agro-extractive capitalist project: Capitalist in nature __________________________ 391
10.3.2. The agro-extractive capitalist project: Extractivist in character ______________________ 395
10.3.3. The agro-extractive capitalist project: Contentious since the very beginning ____________ 397
PART III Multi-dynamic politics of agro-environmental change in Guatemala under
converging global crises ___________________________________________________ 403
Chapter 11 Supporters of the agro-extractive capitalist project ________________________ 403
11.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 403
11.2. Cast of characters ______________________________________________________________ 409
11.3. Political agenda and contention frame ______________________________________________ 411
11.4. Repertoire of contention ________________________________________________________ 416
11.4.1. Trojan horse strategy ______________________________________________________ 417
11.4.1.1. Divide and rule tactic ___________________________________________________ 418
11.4.2. Discursive flexibility strategy ________________________________________________ 421
10