1

International Lending Institutions, the State, and Indigenous Movements in the

Latin America of the 1990s1

Gerardo Castillo2

The paper explores the emergence of indigenous movements in Latin America in the

decade of 1990s in the context of land-titling policies promoted by the World Bank. The

cases of Ecuador and Bolivia are examined.

Key words: indigenous movements, Latin America, World Bank, land-titling, Ecuador,

Bolivia.

1. Introduction

Since 1990s, Latin America is experiencing crucial changes and challenges. After the

collapse of the national modernization project of the import substitution model in the late

1970s, Latin American governments have implemented structural adjustment programs,

liberalize their economies and reduced state role under the tutelage of international

lending institutions (namely, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank). In

addition, new social movements –within which the indigenous rights movement is a

major actor—are struggling for a more inclusive political role (Findji); and, the fragile

democracies of the sub-continent are searching for a new social contract where

multiculturalism and decentralization are central components. In many cases, the

components are being expressed in constitutional reforms (Van Cott 2000).

This paper explores some of the implications of these processes within light of the land

reforms that involve indigenous groups, states and international lending institutions. To

be sure, land has been the central locus of social struggles in Latin America since colonial

times, when indigenous groups were organized around a system of labor, land and

products expropriation. The beginning of the XX century witnessed a second wave of

dispossession and external aggression with the strengthening of the hacienda system and

1 Paper based on the research conducted under the supervision of Karl Offen, Department of Geography at

The University of Oklahoma, December 2002. 2 Director, Societas Consultora. E-mail: gerardocastillo@societasconsultora.com

2

the introduction of capitalism forms among peasant communities.3 This situation led to

thousands of landless and impoverished peasants in the highlands to massive social

mobilizations. Many populist and nationalist governments answered with a mixed policy

of military repression and land distribution reforms. However, the new context presents at

least three main differences. First, the geography and nature of the reforms have moved

from land distribution in the highlands to territory demarcation in the lowlands. Second,

struggles for land are also taking place over symbolic resources claimed through the

reinvigoration of ethnic identities4 and over modes of self-governance.5 Third, the

proposed reforms in the 1990s are being legitimized by discourses of democratic

decentralization, export integration to international markets, and natural conservation

instead of ideals of social justice.

Through the exploration of two projects in Bolivia and Ecuador, I examine the scope and

limits of the World Bank’s land reform proposals. It is argued that demarcation, titling

and securing ownership of land projects and reforms promoted by the World Bank since

1990 should be read as both shaping and reflecting indigenous political mobilization, but

also advancing neo-liberal agenda. This assertion implies a “win-win” scenario where: a)

indigenous and peasant groups obtain land rights, cultural (for not to say ethnic) and

political recognition, and the prospect of economic benefits (i.e. infrastructure,

development projects and, more importantly, some degree of participation of the profits

from natural resources exploitation); b) the state is able to attract foreign investments,

reduce its welfare role, recover internal legitimacy among growing disappointment with

the liberalization policies, and obtain external credibility; and, c) international lending

institutions set a political order of liberal democracy and multiculturalism (Hale), and

3 See, for instance, Mallon’s book for a recount of peasant struggles against capitalist incursions in the

central highlands of Peru. 4 See Gros for an analysis of indigenous identity Colombia, and Fisher for Pan-Mayan resistance and

construction in Guatemala. 5 Without doubt, Colombia is the country that has advanced most significantly in financial and political

decentralization and, also, in restituting territorial autonomy to indigenous and black communities. For

territorial decentralization in the Amazonia see the compilation of Vieco et al., specially the articles of

Clemente Forero and Juan José Vieco. For territorial decentralization and identity among black

communities in Colombia see Wade’s article and the interview with the Organización de Comunidades

Negras de Buenaventura. The paper prepared by Offen (2002, Indigenous…) provides a general overview

of decentralization and indigenous autonomy in Latin America.

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secure sustainable economic exploitation of natural resources through the stabilization of

property regimes in untitled regions.

2. State-Society Relationship: A New Social Contract in Latin American Countries

Current literature in Latin America (Jelin 1996; Reis) has delineated the dramatic changes

that Latin American economic and political regimes have experienced over the last

decades. These changes have meant the reduction of the state role in the economy,

privatization of national assets and services, liberalization of internal markets, and budget

cuts in agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and, in less

extend, the Inter-American Development Bank6. But, and maybe more importantly in the

long term, they have also included a political reconfiguration of the state-society

relationship7.

In an unintended confluence, both Neo-liberal and New Left discourses and practices

have abandoned their emphasis on the state as the omnipresent actor in the political

arena. Neo-liberal agenda, on the one hand, with its accent on accountability, delivery

efficiency, capacity building, social responsibility, and good governance, regards

organized civil society and private corporations as privileged actors in the race for

economic development and liberal democratic consolidation at expenses of the state8.

The New Left turn, on the other hand, has incorporated participatory democracy as its

central concept in the political reconfiguration of the 1990s. Elsewhere, Evelina Dagnino

has indicated that in the Latin American leftist discourse the centrality of the state has

been replaced by the idea of democracy. After the defeat of the armed strategy, the arena

of political struggle was no longer the capture of the state. Democracy became the

6 Eduardo Lora presents an excellent comparative summary of the performance of macro-economic reforms

in Latin America. 7 For a summarized revision of the changes in the state-society relationship, see the introduction prepared

by Alvarez, Dagnino, and Escobar. 8 Many of these terms defines a discursive universe which dilutes broader political and economic constrains

to an individualistic will. For example, an approach that considers the social capital of the community or

the social responsibility of the firm as the main factors of development, privileges local scales at the

expense of the state as political regulator and economic distributor.

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unifying concept for fight against authoritarian states in all the fronts: from political and

human freedom to better economic conditions, to women rights, and to ethnic and

linguistic identities. As Dagnino puts correctly, the way to think and make politics in

Latin America is moving “from the kingdom of ideology and the state to apogee of

hegemony and civil society” (35).

Latin American academics, trying to understand the changing panorama of the 1980s,

moved from a statist view of politics9 to an emphasis in an autonomous civil society. This

reconceptualization was the result of major changes in social theory but also of the

specific Latin America context convulsed by increasing social movements. Thus, new

actors and new movements --not possible to encapsulate in the rigid correspondence of

class interests-- put in agenda the recently rediscovered concept of civil society. In Latin

America, civil society was less a reflection about hegemony than the practical imperative

facing the debacle of the modern social contract: the state was not only unable to deliver

minimum welfare but also lacked the legitimacy in the use of violence. Resistance against

authoritarian states took shape through the organization of civil society. This original

feature fostered a view that radically opposed civil society and the state. Moreover, from

this point was short the step to the mythification of civil society "…as a virtuous pole

against an evil state." (Dagnino, 41).

However, the "…intellectual enthusiasm generated by the new forms of collective

expression in the 1980s is now a thing of the past." (Jelin 1998, 405). The political

democratization --inaugurated by the transition governments in the early 1980s-- did not

automatically produce a strengthened civil society, a culture of citizenship, and a sense of

social responsibility. In Latin American countries, the extreme poverty and violence

9 As pointed by Dagnino:

Under the heavy influence of Marxist structuralism, the state was conceived as a condensation of

power relations and the specific locus of domination in the society. As the privileged focus of

attention in the analysis of politics and political transformation, the state was considered to be the

only decisive arena of power relations and, therefore, the only relevant site and target of political

struggle, in what came to be known as a ‘statist’ view of politics. Latin American political culture

came to reinforce such a view, since a conception of a strong and interventionist state, since as

historically linked to the building of the nation and as the primary agent of social transformation,

has been central to all versions of populism, nationalist, and developmentalist projects, whether

conservative or leftist. (Dagnino, 36).

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excluded minorities from the political community. This social and economic crisis has

led to a serious disappointment with traditional liberal democratic forms and to growing

social mobilization.

Since the 1990s, thus, the fragile democracies of the sub-continent are searching for a

new social contract where multiculturalism and decentralization are central components

and become expressed in constitutional reforms (Van Cott 2000). In fact, many Latin

American countries have reformed or are currently reforming their Constitutions in order

to explicitly declare a pluri-cultural and pluri-ethnic nation10. This is a major shift from

an authoritarian, national-populist and developmentalist ideal to a (formal) democratic,

decentralized, and neo-liberal model, which applies a “positive discrimination” in favor

of indigenous respect and autonomy (Gros). Decentralization has been also favored by

the democratic transition that relaxed thigh controls over regions and social movements

(Rojas). In addition, structural reforms have also played a significant role. The

elimination of trade barriers, monopolies, fixed exchange rates, and price controls over

basic consumer goods, has mainly hurt the industrial urban centers and has provided an

stimulus to more dispersed mining, oil, forest and agricultural activities, especially if are

destined to external markets. In turn, these extractive activities are pushing frontier lands

(Fox).

3. World Bank Development Objectives and Strategies

The World Bank11 deals with long-term development reforms. In effect, after a brief

period where its main interest was the post-war European economic reconstruction, the

Bank responded to the claims of Lest Developed Countries (LCDs) enlarging and re-

10 For a revision of the success or failure of introducing pro-indigenous constitutional reforms in Bolivia,

Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela, see Van Cott (2001). 11 The World Bank Group is formed by four agencies. The International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development (IBRD) makes loans at commercial rates to middle-income developing countries. The

International Development Association (IDA-1960) provides soft loans to the poorest governments. The

International Finance Corporation (IFC-1956) assists economic development in poor countries through

investing private projects, supporting private capital markets and encouraging local and foreign capitals.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA-1988) promotes the flow of direct foreign to Less

Developed Countries through the lessening of non-commercial investment barriers.

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orientating its loans. Influenced by development theories of the time, the Bank promoted

the industrialization of LDCs financing infrastructure (namely, transport, energy and

communications). The modernization project –which considers the lack of infrastructure

and initial capitals as the only barriers for economic growth-- failed in the early 1970s

and was replaced for an emphasis on "basic needs", growth with redistribution, and

investments in the rural sector. Since 1980 the Bank has moved away from a poverty

alleviation approach and became more involved in structural changes and promoting the

private sector development. Moving from sector programs focused in industrial and

economic growth, the Bank became more concerned with poverty reduction policies and

structural adjustments12 in a close relationship with the IMF (Mosley et al.).13

By the early 1990s two central elements were added to the Bank’s agenda: environment

and indigenous people. Although the inclusion of these issues on the Bank’s policies are

partly the result environmental NGOs and indigenous movement pressure around the

world, it is also true that they have evolved from internal processes. This is especially the

case for the link between biodiversity and indigenous people, which has evolved from a

reflection on poverty and land degradation. Effectively, in the last years there is an

increasing concern about the relationship between economic performance and

environment among academic researches and policy makers14. As Helm has noted, the

environment “has assumed a status as the economic problem of the 1990s, as did oil in

1970s and inflation in the 1980s” (Helm, ix. Italics in the original). Equally, in current

development discussion there is a concern in poverty, environment and development

(Markanya 1999). Although not without differences, this development literature suggests

12 Structural adjustments are generally designed by the IMF and constitute the macro economic framework

where the WB development strategy operates. These measures include privatization of state companies and

services; liberalization of foreign trade through tariff reductions and non-tariff barriers and; price

liberalization and deregulation. The short-term effects of the privatization process are raising

unemployment and the deterioration of living standards but could stop government losses. Likewise, direct

food supplies to target groups replace the elimination of subsidies on basic products (Kahler). 13 The mediation of the World Bank and IMF would not only foster private foreign capital inflows but the

agreement of better conditions for both the receiving country and the trans-national corporations. Thus,

many Latin American countries with mining traditions have liberalized their economy and reformed their

legal framework under the World Bank support (World Bank 1995, Characteristics…). Now, the investor is

assured of total transferability of titles and of long term fiscal and foreign exchange terms and in return

makes an enforceable commitment to carry out a specified and verifiable investment program, besides to

pay high but clear taxes over the net incomes and dividends. 14 See, for instance, López or World Bank (2000).

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that an increase in poverty within the community results in increased degradation.

Conversely, a reduction in poverty will reduce environmental degradation (de Janvry and

García). In a similar line Stern, Common, and Barbier conclude that increases in

economic development have a complex effect on the environment, but in the long-term

should help reduce poverty and improve the environment15.

Among this debate, the World Bank has re-oriented its policies from industrial growth to

conservation and sustainable economic development. Thus, altogether with the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environmental

Programme (UNEP), the World Bank is one the Implementing Agencies16 of the Global

Environment Facility Program (GEF)17.

Result of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the GEF is a mechanism for providing funds to

achieve global environmental benefits in four focal areas: Climate change; Biological

diversity; International waters; and Ozone layer depletion. Activities concerning land

degradation, desertification and deforestation are also eligible for funding as they relate

to the four focal areas. The GEF serves as the financial mechanism for the Conservation

of Biological Diversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and as the

interim financial mechanism for the implementation of the Persistent Organic Pollutants

program. (World Bank 2002, Global…). As one of the three implementing agencies of

the GEF, the World Bank:

15 Nevertheless, there are more critical positions stating that social and political historical processes –

namely, colonial experience (Watts) or structural adjustments programs— have resulted in increments of

poverty and environmental degradation in a large number of developing countries. For instance, Veening

and Groenendijk for the Guianas and Bowles et al. for Latin America, argue that logging and timber

extraction are indirectly subsidized by host states in terms of infrastructure (namely, ports and roads),

exoneration of taxes and royalties, and non-payment of social and environmental externalities. Thus, Latin

American tropical forest is starting to replace Asian timber extraction where production dropped

dramatically. 16 The World Bank's primary role is in ensuring the development and management of investment projects.

The United Nations Development Programme's main concern is in ensuring the development and

management of capacity building programs and technical assistance projects. The United Nations

Environment Programme's first task is to catalyze the development of scientific and technical analysis and

to advance environmental management in GEF-financed activities. 17 The GEF consists of an Assembly of all participating countries, and Council, Secretariat, a Scientific and

Technical Advisory Panel, and three Implementing Agencies – UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank.

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[…] assists its member countries conserve and sustainably use their biological

diversity, reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, manage shared water

bodies and reduce their emissions of ozone-depleting substances by accessing

GEF resources to cover the incremental costs of additional actions on these global

issues. (World Bank 2002, Global…).

Nowadays, in addition, any project financed by the World Bank requires an

Environmental Assessment, which is one of its ten environmental and social safeguard

policies used in the Bank to examine the potential environmental risks and benefits

associated with the its lending operations.18 The Bank classifies the proposed project into

one of four categories, depending on the type, location, sensitivity, and scale of the

project and the nature and magnitude of its potential environmental impacts: A, B, C, D

and F. In practical terms only the first three are used, where A refers to projects likely to

have significant adverse environmental impacts, and C those with minimal or no adverse

environmental impacts. The cases presented below are ranked B. These impacts are site-

specific; few if any of them are irreversible; and in most cases mitigatory measures can

be designed readily. (World Bank 1999, Environmental…).

The Bank’s concerns on environmental issues are clearly expressed in its forestry

policies. The World Bank financed its first forest operations in 1949 with the purchasing

of timber equipment. The Bank’s approach evolved from a focus on industrial operations

to social forestry and agroforestry to an emphasis on conservation. Prior to the

publication of its 1978 Forestry Sector Policy, the Bank:

[…] had supported forestry primarily by investing in log extraction operations,

pulp and paper mills, and technical assistance for species trials; and by

strengthening forestry institutions. Forest-related lending was ad hoc and lacked

overall appraisal of the potential of forest to contribute to economic development

or environmental protection. In addition, […] the 1978 policy paper reflected

growing awareness of the ecological functions of forest and their contributions to

18 The Bank's environmental assessment policy and procedures are described in Operational Policy/Bank

Procedures 4.01 (World Bank 1999, Environmental…).

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agricultural productivity and enhanced rural incomes. (World Bank 2002, A

revised forest…, 23).

During the 1980s, rising international concerns about the escalating rate of tropical

deforestation and its implications for biodiversity loss, global warming, and

environmental degradation triggered a revision of Bank’s policy. The Forest Policy paper

prepared in 1991 recognized poverty reduction, policy reforms to contain deforestation,

and resource expansion as main issues. At the same time, the policy paper emphasized

preserving intact forest areas and concluded a Bank commitment not to finance

commercial logging in primary moist tropical forest under any circumstances. The broad

goals of the 1991 strategy were to prevent or significantly reduce deforestation and to

stimulate plantations and additional forest resource creation. (World Bank 2002, A

revised…, 23).

After a consultative process with governments, major NGOs and private sector, the Bank

have designed a new Bank Forests Sector Strategy and Operational Policy by 2002. Its

forest diagnosis and strategy developed for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)19

cover three main issues: a) poverty reduction, b) integration of forest in economic

development, and, c) protection of global and local values. (World Bank 2002, A revised

forest…, 53-54).

The poverty reduction aim considers that some 40 million indigenous people –the

majority of them poor—are concentrated in forest areas in the LAC region. The bank’s

strategy is, with governments:

to develop the policy, institutional and legal bases to protect indigenous peoples’

rights and access to forest; empower poor and marginalized people; develop

tenure security; and integrate agroforestry and secondary forest restoration

19 The Latin America and the Caribbean regions contain the largest remaining areas of tropical moist

rainforest, and the dependence of local and poor communities on forest of all types is high. A major joint

paper by the World Bank and Amazon in Brazil indicates that in 83 percent of the Amazon forest, the use

of land for agriculture yields low returns and has limited potential. Therefore, from the national economic

point of view, sustainable management of forest is a much preferable use of the Amazon (Schneider et al.

2002).

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activities involving the poor in rural development programs. (World Bank 2002, A

revised forest…, 54. Italics added).

The objective of integrating forest in economic development considers that an increased

emphasis will be given to integrate forest management into cross-sectoral frame;

governance and illegal operations issues; developing awareness of the link between broad

economic reforms in trade and fiscal areas to forest outcomes; and catalytic investments

in sustainable forest management. Finally, to protect global and local values the focus

will be Bank involvement in GEF and other grant-based support to Protected Areas;

building markets for ecosystem services; and evaluating cross-sectoral impacts on forest

areas. (World Bank 2002, A revised forest…, 54).

The way to deal with this complex interrelation of attacking poverty, stabilizing land

regimes, and securing biodiversity is summarized in this Bank statement about the

Colombian Chocó:

The main thrust of the Bank's assistance to Colombia from the mid 1980s has

been to help establish a policy environment supportive of growth led by the

private sector. The [mapping and titling project] progressed to set the groundwork

for investment through institutional strengthening with [land demarcation and]

titling as a vital [component]. (Ng'weno 2000, 14, quoted from Offen 2002,

Indigenous…).

Following this line, and in a paper presented to the Association of American

Geographers, Offen argues that:

[…] the Bank's modified position is consistent with its efforts to strengthen

property rights, to regularize and integrate a system of protected areas to enhance

the institutional capacities governing these areas, to foment foreign direct

investment, and to attract appropriate technologies to biodiverse areas. (2002,

Indigenous…).

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This approach goes altogether with vision of a decentralized management20 and a

proactive indigenous support. As Marquette has stated:

[…] the Bank has moved from a reactive approach of protecting indigenous

groups from project impacts to a more proactive approach supporting indigenous

land rights, investment in indigenous communities, and the informed participation

of indigenous communities in conservation and development activities (10).

4. Indigenous Right Movements

As previously stated, the last decades have witnessed the emergence of social movements

that emphasizes the strengthening of civil society, formal democracy, and citizenship.

The indigenous rights movement has became a major actor among these struggles for

more inclusive political roles. An enduring and well-organized alliance between pro-

human rights NGOs and indigenous associations has been able to raise ethnic and

indigenous concerns to the agenda of global institutions such as the United Nations21, the

ILO22, or the World Bank23.

20 For the Bank, decentralized environmental management has two interrelated forms. First, it:

[…] occurs under the broader political process of decentralization, which aims to give more power

to citizens in public decision-making. Second, it is part of an economic and administrative process

that aims to gain efficiency by transferring responsibilities from central levels of the public

administration to local levels. (Margulis, 273. Italics added). 21 Thus, in a early document, the United Nations Sub-commission on the Prevention on Discrimination and

Protection of Minorities states that indigenous communities, peoples and nations:

[…] are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies

that developed on their territories, considered themselves distinct from other sectors of the

societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form a present non-dominant

sector of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their

ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples,

in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems (United

Nations, 379). 22 In 1989, the International Labor Organization, approved the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention,

1989, which applies:

[…] to tribal peoples in independent countries whose social, cultural and economic conditions

distinguish them from other sections of the national community and peoples in independent

countries who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent. It requires ratifying States to

recognize the responsibility of Government to develop with the participation of the peoples

concerned, coordinated and systematic action to protect the rights of these peoples and to

guarantee respect for their integrity (ILO). 23 Although the Bank issued its first directive concerning indigenous peoples in 1982 under the title Tribal

People and in Bank-financed Projects (Davis) it was not until 1993 that a more organic strategic was

designed. Effectively, that year the Bank launched its Indigenous Peoples Development Initiative and,

gradually, indigenous development is becoming part of its portfolio (Nieuwkoop and Uquillas).

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Peasant and indigenous peoples in Latin America have experienced long-standing

struggles against dominant conditions since early Colonial times. Along the XX century,

peasant peoples from the highlands have been involved in agrarian reforms with the land

as the central focus of the fight (i.e. 1917 in Mexico, 1953 in Bolivia, 1964 in Ecuador, or

1970 in Peru).

Since the 1980s, however, with the destructuration of political struggles through class

(unions) and political parties, women and indigenous movements are the most important

and original forms of resistance nowadays (Gros). In fact, indigenous peoples of the

lowlands are who are suffering the impact of an accelerated process of colonization and

farming (i.e. Mayan Indians of the Lacandón jungle in Chiapas, Nash; Collier and

Quaratiello) oil and mineral exploitation (i.e. the Petroecuador expansion in the Aguarico

region, Little; or the fight against garimpeiros in Brazilian Amazon, Schmink and Wood)

and development projects (i.e. the Kayapó’s long battle against the Xingu dam project,

Seva Fo). Despite these aggressive intrusions of capitalism forms, indigenous identity

movements have proved great resilience and adaptation capacity, guided by a new

generation of leaders trained in NGOs or Catholic groups (Gros).

In this process, as María Teresa Findji states for the case of indigenous authorities in

Colombia, indigenous struggles have evolved from reactive resistance to social

movements with extended national networks which –in some extent-- cross class, gender

and ethnicity24. June Nash, examining the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, argues that the

broad social support and aims reached is part of a dramatic opposition to global economic

processes (i.e. NAFTA) seeking accessing new natural resources areas and new markets.

In structural opposition to these economic and political forces, indigenous movements

would provide alternative modes of globalization, which include acknowledgement of

collective rights, ethnic self-determination, and the creation of global civic society

networks. This influential research approach, however, obscures the fact that the aims of

24 To a similar conclusion arrives Rodolfo Stavenhagen in his summary of the evolution of Mexican

ingenuous movement.

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indigenous movements are not necessarily in structural opposition to those of neo-liberal

institutions but partially share an ideal of formal democracy, multiculturalism and

territorial demarcation (Hale)25.

In a suggestive paper, Christian Gross, argues that indigenous movements in the

“highlands” and the “lowlands” have converged in the same claim of acknowledgment of

its cultural difference and territorial autonomy, although starting from opposite points26.

This indigenous movement would be product of some structural factors: the collapse of

the household peasant production due to demographic pressure that leads to a continuous

land sub-division in the highlands; colonization waves and the disruptive entrance to

global market economies in the lowlands; growing access to formal education and media,

which open the cultural horizon; and the emergence of new indigenous leaders with

political and organizational formation in NGOs and religious organizations.

In this sense, following Gros, indigenous movements would make use of the construction

of the invention of the Indianness (Indianidad) as a discursive and organizational resource

inscribed within globalization processes and power correlations with neo-liberal agencies

and the State. In fact, the internationalization of the indigenous agenda runs parallel and

is backed by the ONG network interested in environmental and sustainable development

issues.

Titling and secure tenure projects are particularly valuable because land becomes the

symbolic and material arena where these different processes are expressed. For instance,

indigenous conceptions of territory and property have frequently clashed with static and

individual Western conceptions of rights. Offen (2002, Ecología…) shows how Miskitu

groups in Nicaragua use space in a complex cycle around the year which allows them to

have access to different resources accordingly the particular ecosystem (fisheries, hunting

25 An additional problem is the sequence from resistance to social mobilization. Analyzing Colonial

rebellions in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, Steve Stern criticizes traditional historiography, which had

regarded indigenous movements as pre-political, merely reactive irruptions unable to articulate other social

groups neither to formulate a national program. Stern suggests that the political nature of indigenous

movements depends on the specific power correlations existing under specific circumstances. 26 While highlands groups would be fighting for national integration, lowlands groups would be struggling

against deleterious market intrusion in its territory.

14

areas, forests or slash and burn agriculture). For the case of the Achuar, Descola has

illustrated how Catholic and Protestant missions, military bases, and development state

agencies have altered indigenous concept of territory and redefined its boundaries. This

has been the result of an imposed pax among the different Jívaro families and, more

significantly, the introduction of agriculture, limitation of collecting and hunting, and the

compulsory resettlement around the small landing strips.

Moreover, for indigenous peoples territory does not only refer to economic activities but

also is the ground where the whole social (i.e. marriage, sorcery) and cultural (i.e. sexual

attributes or landscape read through gender associations) relationships are organized and

categorized (Echeverri). In this sense, imposed changes in territorial organization would

led to redefinitions in ethnic identities as the hunter and recollecting Yujup and Nukak of

the Colombian northeast have experienced (Franky and Mahecha).

5. Study Cases

5.1. Bolivia

A landlocked country in the Andes, Bolivia is one the poorest in Latin America. In fact,

accordingly estimates of the World Bank (2002, Bolivia at a glance), in 2001 its GNP per

capita barely reached US$1,000 and 67% of Bolivian population lived below the national

poverty line. With a very weak industrial base, Bolivian economy mainly depends on

minerals (tin, zinc, tungsten) and gas exports and small-scale farming for local

consumption. Bolivia’s area covers 1.1 million km2, of which more than 50% is forests.

Its population of 8.5 million is concentrated in the Altiplano region where La Paz, the

capital, and the most important cities --such as Potosí, Oururo, Chuquisaca, and Tarija --

are located. In the eastern tropical slopes, however, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz’s

economy grows, partly fueled by drug trafficking. Certainly, Bolivia is the world's third-

largest cultivator of coca --after Colombia and Peru-- with an estimated 19,900 hectares

under cultivation in July 2001, especially in the Chaparé’s valley (CIA).

15

Because of its dramatically low economic and social indicators, comparable with Sub-

Saharan standards, Bolivia is the only South American country considered within the

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This initiative allows Bolivia to

reduce its total external debt by one-half and to be eligible to the soft loan program for

poor countries managed by the World Bank's International Development Association

(IDA). Indeed, Bolivia was one of the first countries in Latin America in following IMF

and WB policies of macroeconomic stability and structural adjustments since 1985. In

terms of the World Bank, Bolivia: “is a good example of a country that has achieved

successful stabilization and implemented innovative market reforms, yet made only

limited progress in the fight against poverty.” (World Bank 2002, Bolivia’s Debt…).

It is estimated (CIA) that 30% of Bolivia’s population is of Quechua origins and other

25% of Aymara’s ones. As the case of Ecuador, indigenous presence in politics has

increaser enormously. Proof of this is the second place occupied by Evo Morales, an

indigenous candidate with nationalist discourse, in the last presidential elections.

However, the correlation between rural areas and poverty is strong, with 81.7% of the

rural population living below the national poverty line, almost 20 points more than the

national average in 1999. Moreover, for the same year it is calculated that Quechua,

Aymara or Guarani people perceive between 15% and 57% less income than Spanish

speaking individuals (World Bank 2001, Bolivia: Indigenous…, 3-4).

5.1.1. The National Land Administration Project

Current land distribution issues in Bolivia go back to the Agrarian Reform in 1953 with

the sign of the decree 3464 and the creation of the Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria

(INRA). The history of the so-called Law INRA reflects the changes in the country’s

politics and economy. From being the spearhead of the land redistribution in the

highlands and nationalizing project of the leftist and nationalist military government, in

the 1990s, the Law INRA is being redirected to fulfill new demands of property rights

stability and frontier expansion in the lowlands (Flores).

16

Table 1. Land Use in Bolivia (in ha)

Cultivated

Land Fallow Land Forest

Natural

Grasslands Total

Uplands 488,284 322,782 272,644 1,355,810 2,439,520

Valleys 331,830 78,760 1,284,903 571,581 2,267,074

Lowlands 543,019 450,778 8,116,158 9,097,465 18,207,420

TOTAL 1,363,133 852,320 9,673,705 11,024,856 22,914,014

Elaborated from World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 2.

From its creation to 1984, the state has provided land to small farmers without cost

through colonization and expropriation of old haciendas. Although updated statistics are

not available, it seems that land distribution in Bolivia is still very unequal. Thus, at the

end of the 1980s, small properties (80% of the total) owned only 2.5% of the land;

medium-size properties (18.1%) owned 12.1%; and large properties (1.8%) concentrated

85.3% of the land.

Table 2. Differences in Treatment Accordingly Types of Land Property

Medium and Large Property Small property, peasant and indigenous

communities

It could revert to the state in case of abandon Property is indivisible, collective, does not

prescribe and could not be executed

Can be sold and given in mortgage Cannot be given in mortgage

Subject of taxes Exempted of taxes

Bought to the state at market prices Given by the state free or at subsidized prices

Elaborated from Flores, 3-4.

The law gives full property rights to the medium and large owners but restricts them to

small farmers. The law considers small peasant property as a “vital minimum” and,

although it does not forbid its sale and buying, it establishes that land distribution will be

ensued accordingly communal customs and the plots cannot be used as mortgage. As

result, a market differentiation would be geographically developed: relatively free land

transactions in the east and a constrained land market in the high plateau, Andean valleys

17

and the Chaco region. This would explain the lack of credit and capital investments in the

traditional agriculture of the second area.

These differences would create an artificially low price for the land, which in turn would

led to its inefficient use and, moreover, provide incentives for the occupation of more

land in frontier regions. In brief, critics (Flores) claim that the law prevents the formation

of land and capital markets; curbs the development of traditional agriculture; and lowers

land prices. The law, therefore, generates excessive demand, encourage inefficiency in

traditional areas, trigger destruction of forestland, discourage foreign investment and

produce a cumbersome bureaucratic apparatus.

Facing this problematic, the World Bank --altogether with the Bolivian government, the

IDB and other donors-- has elaborated a comprehensive development framework. Among

other areas, the Bank is especially interested in funding and elaborating action strategies

in biodiversity conservation, rural community development, and land administration. In

fact, land ownership is fundamental for the Bank objectives:

Ownership is central to the implementation of development strategy, and

fundamentally, to the process of societal transformation that lies at the heart of

effective development. (World Bank 1999, Bolivia: Implementing…).

In this line, in 1995 the WB agreed to fund the National Land Administration Project in

Bolivia at a cost of US$27.2 million27. The objectives of project attempt:

to achieve a more efficient and transparent land administration system, clarify the

land tenure situation, identify public land suitable for small farmer settlements

and promote a more sustainable use of the country's land resources.” (World

Bank 2001, Bolivia: National… supplement credit, 3. Italics added).

To reach these objectives, the project would “help the Government to formulate land

administration and policy reforms, obtain accurate land ownership information, carry out

27 The Bank, through the IDA will finance US$20.4 and the Bolivian government will contribute with

US$6.8.

18

land studies, alleviate land conflicts and improve land transaction registration” (World

Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 18).

The project, thus, will:

[…] support the formulation of a sound and coherent land policy and legislation,

carry out land mapping on three million ha to obtain cadastre information and to

regularize the land tenure situation wherever possible, identify 500,000 ha

suitable for small farmer settlement and increase the efficiency and transparency

of the land administration system. (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…,

18. Italics added).28

In addition, the project will also finance: 1) title regularization and land settlement

programs by the Instituto Nacional de Tierras (INTI), when established; and 2) the

introduction of an integrated legal cadastral registry system when the Registro Legal del

Catastro (RLC) is established. (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 18).

Accordingly the Bank, the legal reforms and land institutions strengthening proposed in

the project would “improve the current land administration system thereby facilitating its

transition to a permanent and integrated geographical and legal land system as envisaged

by the Government” (World Bank 2001, Bolivia: National… supplement credit, 3). The

National Land Administration Project contains eight main components:

a) Reform of the legal framework

This component contemplates the revision of land tenure reform legislation, which

includes the INTI law, the RCL law, and the Land law. The INTI law would create the

Instituto Nacional de Tierras as the sole authority to distribute public lands and carry out

the cadastre and land titling regularization. The RCL law would creates the Registro

Legal del Catastro and provide legal status to the cadastre and registry procedures. The

28 In 2001 the bank was discussing the approval of a supplemental credit with the objective of:

[…] strengthen further the efficiency and transparency of the Borrower’s land administration

system, especially with regard to its functioning in the Andean region; to complete land titling in

over 3 million total hectares; and to implement a sustainable national legal cadastral system.”

(World Bank 2001, Bolivia: National… supplement credit, 3. Italics added).

19

Land law would include: the implementation of a new land policy taking into account

“efficiency, equity and sustainable criteria” (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National

Land…, 22); the definition of types of property rights (namely, indigenous peoples,

communal systems, and private properties); the formulation of a new land re-distribution

policy; the removal of existing constrains on private land transactions excepting in

communal lands; the creation of mechanisms for environmental monitoring in settlement

areas; and the definition of the conditions for reversion of previously distributed land.

The component also considers the training of judges and staff of the Órgano

Jurisdiccional Agrario. In addition, a group of high-level consultants or Land Policy

Analysis Unit will be established in order to conduct studies on land matters, formulate

land tenure policy proposals, support and monitor legal and institutional land

administration reforms, and conduct workshops for the dissemination of the analytical

studies.

b) Land management improvement – cadastre

This component seeks to strength the Comisión de Intervención (CI)29 and to assist it

with the clarification and systematization of land tenure situation. The CI would clarify

land tenure situation by identifying overlapping land titles, alleviating land conflicts,

continue land titling for small-holders, organizing land tenure information, and

contributing to territorial planning.

The area for title regularization covers 3.7 million ha, focusing on smallholders in the

lowlands of eastern Bolivia and indigenous and communal lands in both the eastern

lowlands and Andean region30. These activities are part of the Cat-Sat (catastro con

saneamiento) plan, which will be fully executed with the creation of the INTI.

c) Identification of land for settlement

29 The Consejo Nacional de Reforma Agraria (CNRA) and the Instituto Nacional de Colonización (INC)

compose the Comisión de Intervención Nacional (CI). 30 The funds available are not sufficient to cover the full-prioritized area of 6 million ha. The government is

seeking additional donors, including the Nordic Development Found, to complete the cadastre work.

20

The CI would “identify, reserve and assess the suitability of 500,000 ha of public land to

be made available for distributing to small-holders. The land settlement program aims at

directing spontaneous settlers to areas suitable for agriculture and livestock thereby

diverting them from environmentally fragile lands.” (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National

Land…, 25.) The identification process includes environmental analysis to determine

weather: a) soils in prospecting areas are suitable for agriculture; b) areas do not include

unique ecosystems or of biodiversity importance; c) areas do not located within lands

claimed by indigenous people.

d) Strengthening of the property registry

The program seeks to improve the capacity of the Property Registry (Derechos Reales) to

register titles and land transactions in rural areas.

e) Strengthening of the Instituto Nacional de Tierras (INTI)

The INTI will merge the CNRA and the INC and will have a central office with four

divisions: a) geographic information, in charge of the cadastre; b) tenure regularization

and titling, in charge of titling and conflict resolution; c) land settlements; and d)

administration and finance.

An external commission, Comisión Nacional Agraria, will provide assistance for the

formulation of the INTI law. A broad range of stakeholders –including state agencies,

peasant and indigenous organizations, or commercial farmer groups—will be part of the

commission.

f) Title regularization (Cat-Sat)

The objective of this program is to resolve conflicts between landholders and to register

and regularize land titles. The process includes: promotion of Cat-Sat, conflict resolution,

publication of field results, registration in the Property Registry (DDRR) and Registro

Legal de Catastro (RLC), and issuance of Registry Certificates.

21

Financing would be provided to conduct land regularization and titling efforts of

smallholders in the Departments of La Paz and Santa Cruz, and the titling of Tierras

Comunitarias de Origen (TCOs) in La Paz and Potosí Departments. One objective of the

titling activity would be develop, test and validate methodologies for land titling that

would address the range of land tenure arrangements in both the eastern lowlands and the

Andean region (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 26-28).

g) Land settlement program

The program seeks to direct spontaneous settlers to areas suitable for agriculture and

livestock accordingly technical studies. The allocation of public lands will require

Environmental Impact Assessments, cannot be located in areas occupied by indigenous

peoples, and will not exceed a maximum of 50 ha, depending on technological and soil

conditions. Virtually all of the lands eligible for small farmers would be in tropical and

sub-tropical lowlands. (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 28-29, 80)

h) Legal Cadastral Registry

With regard to the National Land Registry, the financing would allow for the completion

of a reliable and accessible national land registry including geographical (i.e. cadastral)

information. The full establishment of an effective and sustainable land registry system

depends on finalizing the technical development and installation of a computerized,

integrated registry containing geo-references for all registered titles, and increasing

access to the departments’ offices and 12 rural, regional offices into the automated

registry system (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 29-30).

5.2. Ecuador

As any other country of the Andean region, Ecuador presents sharply economic,

geographical and ethnic differences (World Bank 2002, Ecuador…). Within an area of

283,600 km2, Ecuador's population of 12.6 million is essentially divided among the

coastal and highland regions. Guayaquil, the major port, is also the financial and

commercial center and dominates the coastal area, which economy is thrived by

22

agricultural and fishing exports (namely, bananas and shrimps). The highlands host

Quito, the capital, and the traditional powers linked to small-scale farming and services.

In recent decades, the Amazon region, although sparsely populated have acquired

national importance because its large reserves of oil –by far the main country’s export

commodity—and forest resources, and its geopolitical significance31.

As in the case of Bolivia, Ecuador is affected by extreme poverty conditions. In fact,

accordingly the PNUD, 52,3 percent of the Ecuadorians live in poverty with less than 2

US$ daily. This poverty conditions are particularly harsh among indigenous and afro-

ecuadorian peoples. Thus, in 1994, 83%32 of indigenous living in villages and 81% of

afro-ecuadorians living in predominantly black areas were below the national poverty

line (World Bank 1997, 20).

Also similar to other countries in the region, the WB and other multilateral lending

agencies have a strong involvement in Ecuador’s policies, especially after the key

dollarizing legislation in March 2000. Since the 1980s, rural development projects –with

land titling and economic infrastructure included—were added to the portfolio of

interventions of the WB and IDB. The ongoing Rural Development Project is a project of

this type with some coverage of indigenous communities. In land management, United

States Agency for International Development (USAID) has financed a small land

cadastre pilot, which has not been followed up due to high cost per hectare. The strategy

of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) identified three program

areas of intervention: 1) farm activities for households with sufficient land; 2) non-farm

income generating activities for households with insufficient land based on rural

linkages; and 3) land reform and titling. The IFAD implemented this strategy in the

Upper Basin of the Cañar River Rural Development Project and the Saraguro-Yacuambi

Rural Development Project.

31 The access to the Amazon basin, and thus to the Atlantic, is of enormous importance for the country and

it has been the cause of recurrent army conflicts with Peru. Ecuador’s government has frequently used

indigenous populations, especially Achuar, as a front line army. For a description of some consequences of

these practices see Descola. 32 This is approximately 14% higher than the rural average and 32% higher than the national average

(Nieuwkoop and Uquillas, 6).

23

Still more important for our purposes, are the WB co-financed projects of the

Agricultural Census and Information System, the Chocó – Andean Corridor Project, and

the Ecuador – Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Peoples Development Project.

5.2.1. Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Peoples Development Project

At a cost of US$50 million33, the development objective of the Indigenous and Afro-

Ecuadorian Peoples Development Project is:

[…] to improve the quality of life of poor rural indigenous and afro-Ecuadorian

communities by providing improved access to land resources and financing for

investment subprojects, which are planned and in most cases implemented by

local membership organizations and communities in accordance with existing

cultural values, vision of development and capacity for self-management. (World

Bank 1997, 2. Italics added).

To fulfill this objective, the project has designed four main components: a)

Institutionalization of local membership organizations and communities; b) Support to

the regularization of land and water rights; c) Rural investments; and, d) Institutional

strengthening of the Consejo Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo de los Pueblos

Indígenas y Negros (CONPLADE-IN).

a) Institutionalization of local membership organizations and communities

The implementation of the first component seeks to enable indigenous and afro-

ecuadorian communities and their organizations “to take the process of development in

their own hands in accordance with their cultural norms.” (World Bank 1997, 2).

Although pro-indigenous legislation has been relatively weak and ambiguous in Ecuador

(World Bank 1997, 46), its indigenous –and to a lesser extent afro-ecuadorian— peoples

33 The implementation period covers from 1998 to 2001 and the projects costs are divided among the IBRD

(50%), IFAD (30%), government (11.7%), beneficiaries (7.6%), and private institutions (0.7%) (World

Bank 1997, 52).

24

are highly organized and in recent years has been a major actor in Ecuadorian politics34.

Their participation in politics has allowed them to achieve positions of representation in

several local and regional governments, in the National Congress and in several

executive-branch agencies (i.e. CONPLADE-IN).

Table 3. Target Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Population by Ethnicity and Region

Region Ethnicity/Location Population

Costa-Sierra/Afro-

Ecuadorian region

Eloy Alfaro 23,256

San Lorenzo 9,067

Esmeraldas 86,653

Chota-Mira 22,793

Amazonia Runa, Sucumbios 8,463

Runa, Napo 25,470

Runa, Pastaza 15,866

Shuar, Upano 19,412

Shuar, Transcutucu 11,011

Shuar, Zamora 3,740

Others (Huao, Siona, Secoya, Cofán) 3,221

Sierra North Runa, Otavalo 63,726

Runa, Cayambe-Quito 51,289

Sierra Center-South Runa, Cotopaxi 72,476

Runa, Tungurahua 62,984

Runa, Chimborazo 148,715

Runa, Bolívar 35,086

Runa, Cañar-Azuay 62,447

Runa, Saraguro 11,936

Costa Costa Seca (Huancavilcas, Manteños, Punaes) 65,997

Others (Cachi, Epera, Tsáchilas, Awa) 9,892

TOTAL 813,500 Elaborated from World Bank 1997, 19.

At community level, it is estimated that 2,325 grassroots organizations have been formed

(communes, centers and cooperatives). These in turn have formed 160 second-tier

organizations –OSGs- (associations, unions, federations) and are frequently affiliated

with provincial, regional and national organizations, culminating in coordinating

organizations such as the Comité del Decenio and the Consejo de Nacionalidades

34 Proof of this, is that a major indigenous mobilization in 2000 to Quito helped to overthrown the

Mahuad’s government, which was trying to implement neo-liberal economic policies in the country.

Moreover, in the last elections, ex-colonel Lucio Gutiérrez has been declared president, mainly because of

the indigenous and peasant support.

25

Indígenas (World Bank 1997). Indigenous and afro-ecuadorian communities are formally

recognized under the Ley de Organización y Régimen Comunal (issued in 1937 and

reinforced with the agrarian reforms of 1964 and 1973), and entered in a register

managed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The project focuses on approximately 815,000

indigenous and afro-ecuadorians settled in rural areas. They represent 6.5 percent of the

country’s population.

Accordingly the project appraisal, the indigenous and afro-ecuadorian population is

concentrated in 48 cantons, which in turn contain 228 rural parroquias (226 indigenous

and 58 afro-ecuadorian), representing 29% of country’s total. However, in almost all the

cases these populations live with mestizo and white people. Therefore, the percentage of

indigenous and black population in these parroquias varies. These groups represent more

than 50 percent in 150 parroquias (111 indigenous and 39 afro-ecuadorian).

The beneficiaries of the project are members of grassroots community organizations,

which in turn have associated themselves with OSGs. In this area, the project works at

three levels: communities, OSGs, and regional or national organizations, including the

Comité del Decenio and the Consejo de Nacionalidades Indígenas. The project regards

the community as the basic form of social organization and cultural reproduction for

Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples legally recognized by the state. At operational

level, however, it privileges the OSG level mainly because it brings grassroots

organizations together and because it has demonstrated the ability to work not only on

political but also economic issues, a problem faced by apex organizations.

Four are the main activities proposed in order to reach the project component objective:

1) Technical assistance and support to the functioning of key organizations and

communities (i.e. preparation of Local Development Plans); 2) Revitalization of peoples

at risk such as the Huaroni, Siona-Secoya, Cofán, Chachi, Tsachila, Emberá and Awá

(i.e. formulation of emergency plans covering organization, defense of land, cultural

demands, natural resource management, and basic services); 3) Education and training

(i.e. training using traditional methodologies as well as formal seminars on issues such us

26

land tenure, community management, environment, biodiversity, or ecoturism); and 4)

Rescue and strengthening of cultural patrimony (i.e. promotion of ritual and

archeological sites, traditional festivities, ethnographic materials, living heritage and

traditions, cultural identity debates, or publication of works by indigenous and afro-

ecuadorian authors).

b) Support to the regularization of land and water rights

The project recognizes that Ecuador presents a very unequal distribution of land

ownership. Thus, for instance, in the sierra region farms of 0 to 5 ha constitute 80.2% of

all farms and occupy 14.1% of total area. In contrast, the 1.6% farms over 100 ha own

42.9% of all lands. It is also stated that until its disappearance in 1994, the Instituto

Ecuatoriano de Reforma Agraria y Colonización (IERAC) has adjudicated approximately

6.7 million ha, although the transference of land from the latifundio to the smallholders

the impact of the state-led land reform has been modest.

Table 4. Land Reform in Ecuador: 1964-1994

Region Agrarian Reform/

Adjudications

Has

Colonization**

Has

Beneficiaries

Amazon 3,508,604* 1,336,758 ?

Sierra 597,155 - 89,693

Costa 297,290 917,250 30,474

Total 4,403,049 2,254,008 Elaborated from World Bank 1997: 25.

* Adjudications to indigenous groups in the Amazon region (53%).

** Titling of lands to settlers in frontier regions (34%).

The project (World Bank 1997, 2, 25-33), however, does not focus on land distribution

but on land titling, especially in the lowlands. It is estimated that some 2,500,000 ha

remain untitled in Ecuador, of which 30% is in areas under the jurisdiction of the Instituto

Ecuatoriano Forestal y de Areas Naturales y Vida Silvestre (INEFAN). Though the long-

term objective cover this area, the project aims to initiate concrete activities through:

First, technical assistance in the preparation of legal reforms on a procedure to adjudicate

lands in forest areas (patrimonio forestal del estado) while ensuring adequate

27

management of natural resources; the preparation of management plans and the definition

of ancestral possession; the writing of a unified management plan for the Instituto

Nacional de Desarrollo Agrario (INDA) and INEFAN; and the including of provisions in

the Ley Forestal y de Areas Naturales Protegias, Vida Silvestre y Biodiversidad, allowing

recognition on land property rights of indigenous and black communities in protected

areas.

Second, land regularization on lands claimed by indigenous and afro-ecuadorian peoples

with rights of ancestral possession; other lands claimed by indigenous and afro-

ecuadorian peoples that required land purchase in selected disputed areas (namely, the

cantones of Ibarra, Cotacachi, Otavalo, Saquisilí, Pujulí, Latacunga, and Guaranda);

lands claimed by indigenous and afro-ecuadorian peoples within areas declared national

forestry patrimonium (patrimonio forestal del estado) and under jurisdiction of INEFAN;

and, lands claimed by indigenous and afro-ecuadorian peoples in protected areas

(patrimonio de áreas naturales). This regularization includes the recognition of

indigenous and black communities legal status, demarcation of land, and the elaboration

of management plans35.

Third, the implementation of diagnostic study and the elaboration of an action plan for

the estimated 2,000 community-owned irrigation systems. This plan includes the

inventory of water sources, conflicts, rights, distribution systems, schemes, implementing

agencies, etc.

c) Rural investments

This component includes infrastructure and financial, technical and managerial assistance

in order to increase access of indigenous communities to services and markets and to

diversify and intensify rural production. (World Bank 1997, 2). The rural investment

logic defines two kinds of interventions: of public/communal nature and

private/individual nature. The first includes investments in productive infrastructure,

social infrastructure, training and technical assistance, environmental and natural

35 Initially, the project focuses in the areas of Esmeraldas, Sucumbíos, Napo, y Pastaza.

28

resources management, and institutional strengthening. The second includes investments

in agriculture and micro-enterprises (i.e. handicraft).

d) Institutional strengthening of the Consejo Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo

de los Pueblos Indígenas y Negros (CONPLADE-IN)

The objective of this project component is to secure a shift from the homogenizing ideal

of cultural assimilation and equal citizenship to the recognition of cultural diversity and

the promotion of ethno-development. It would be reached through the strengthening of

CONPLADE-IN, an institution created in 1997 with the direct representation of

indigenous and afro-ecuadorian organizations.

This “dream come true” (World Bank 1997, 47) organization is in charge of generating

state policies benefiting indigenous and black populations, and executing and

coordinating programs and projects. Its main tasks include intercultural development in

Ecuador’s society; legal, political and administrative reform of the state; comprehensive

and sustainable development; and, affirmation of bilingual and intercultural identity and

education.

The activities proposed in this last program involve: a) the improvement of information

systems; b) elaboration of a system of project planning, monitoring and evaluation; c)

formulation of a national plan for indigenous and afro-ecuadorian development; d)

formulation of legal reforms and public policies, including the indigenous peoples law,

new communes law, the law for the recognition of indigenous health systems, the law of

indigenous peoples cultures, and the development of capacity to review current

legislation from an indigenous point of view; and e) the establishment of a decentralized

Project Implementation Unit, with its heart quarters in Quito and implementing offices in

seven regions (World Bank 1997, 47).

29

6. Final Considerations

Through the exploration of two projects in the Andean region, I have examined some

characteristics of land reforms supported by the World Bank. Demarcation, titling and

securing ownership of land projects and reforms promoted by the World Bank since 1990

should be read as both shaping and reflecting indigenous political mobilization but also

advancing neo-liberal agenda. There is a fortuitous convergence between indigenous

struggles of autonomy, state attempts to recover internal and external legitimacy, and the

liberal ideology of self-government and free-market. I like to highlight three issues,

which would require further research. In this line, I like to highlight three issues, which

would require further research.

6.1. Land reforms and state legitimacy

As in the decades from the 1950s to the 1970s, nowadays Latin American countries are

facing an urgency of land reforms. However, there are crucial differences between both

periods. In general terms, the agrarian reforms of previous decades were signed by: a) a

heavily ideologically charged discourse of social justice and populism; b) authoritarian

top-down mechanisms leaded by the state and imposed by revolutionary leftist

governments (for instance, the cases of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico or Peru); c)

distribution of land among peasants in the highlands and coastal areas and colonization of

“free” lands in the lowlands; and d) a development framework of self-sufficient and

cheap agrarian production to support industrial growth.

As suggested by the National Land Administration Project and the Indigenous and Afro-

Ecuadorian Peoples Development Project, land reforms do not focus anymore in farming

areas (both in the highlands and the coast) but in the frontier area of the lowlands. This

has two main implications. On the one hand, the state populist discourse of social justice

and wealth redistribution is abandoned for a more appealing and progressive one of

concern with ethnic minorities and environment preservation. On the other hand, inward-

oriented development models are shifted for export-oriented policies of natural resources

(re-primarization of the economy) and attractive foreign capital incentives. To reach this

objective, the titling of indigenous land and a process of financial and political

30

decentralization are some of the mechanisms set in motion. In this sense, “ethno-

development” raises as the new hegemonic discourse that links indigenous claims of

“multiculturalism” with late capitalist needs for accessing untouched natural resources.

Some critics warn about possible consequences of this emergent pattern. Transnational

firms –regarded as culturally neutral—contact directly indigenous groups and, thus, they

would avoid state or other citizen controls (Zizek). Although the traditional position of

the state is in some extent bypassed by the growing influence of international lending

institutions, transnational firms, global indigenous movements, international NGOs, and

relatively autonomous indigenous groups, the cases presented suggest that the role of

state is still central. While in the Bolivian case, the state has a more traditional role of

designing, directing, implementing and monitoring the reforms, in Ecuador, indigenous

and black populations have a more active participation. However, in both cases legal

reforms are expected, including issues of territorial autonomy36 and multiculturalism and

decentralized administrative frame. The State, therefore, makes a sort of concession and

evolves to a more decentralized apparatus but it is also securing the management and

rational exploitation of natural resources. At the same time, it meets with the new set of

international expectations of nature preservation.

6.2. Poverty and environment relationship

Of course, a crucial issue is the definition of rational exploitation of natural resources.

Talking about global and local values, the World Bank seems to envisage a common and

non-conflictive goal: declaring protected areas and securing the sustainable exploitation

of forest resources is the unquestioned value of conserving forest and biodiversity.

Global values, however, are not undisputed and --for instance-- transnational firms,

environmentalist groups and lending institution have not the same idea of how to protect

natural resources. At the same time, local values do not have to coincide with

36 In the Ecuadorian case, for example, although the proposal recognizes usufruct rights by indigenous

communities in protected areas, it is seems that substantial forest areas would be declared national forest

patrimonium and, thus, under the State’s (i.e. INEFAN) jurisdiction. However, the project will also finance

legal reforms which include provisions in the Ley Forestal y de Areas Naturales Protegidas, Vida Silvestre

y Biodiversidad, “authorizing indigenous and afro-ecuadorian peoples ownership of lands in protected

areas.” (World Bank 1997, 31. Italics added).

31

conservationist practices. There is always the danger to idealize indigenous peoples as

closer to nature and ecologist per se. However, beyond the discursive strategies, many of

the indigenous struggles deal more with the appropriation of benefits from natural

resources exploitation rather than with protection of the resources.

In addition, the projects designed by the World Bank Group refer directly to a gradual,

unavoidable and desired process of land stability, foreign investments and market

integration. In this sense, the environmental logic of the World Bank policy is

straightforward: the distribution of public land among small farmers and clear property

rights will stabilize the use of land resources37 and will open incentives for the reception

of foreign capital flows.

In the case of Ecuador, for instance, one of the main objectives of the project is to

improve secured access to land and water resources for indigenous and afro-ecuadorian

peoples through the definition of collective property rights over lands and the elimination

of market constrains which --accordingly the Bank’s diagnosis-- hamper access of small

farmers to land (World Bank 1997, 26). The project appraisal, nevertheless, fails to make

clear how it would solve supply constrains which imply the existence of a “pattern of

land market segmentation by both class and ethnicity” (World Bank 1997, 26). From the

demand side, it regards population growth and land degradation as the most important

problems. But it is no clear if the project will promote further colonization for landless or

smallholder peasants of the highlands or simply titling of traditional indigenous claims in

the lowlands. Indeed, the project blurs distinctions among different land conditions and

social realities in the coastal, sierra and lowlands regions. Therefore, if the Bank

diagnosis considers that the lack of adequate property rights is the main constrain for

37 Thus, accordingly the project appraisal, the environmental impact of the National Land Administration

Project in Bolivia would be strongly positive for the following reasons. First, early land tenure conflict

resolution would reduce incentives to title owners to deforest land to prove occupancy. Second, private land

under more secure individual property rights would be managed in a more sustainable manner. Thus far,

under the original project financing and due to the INRA law of 1996 and its regulations, INRA now

provides incentives for conservation by: a) allowing for increased size of landholdings due to the defining

of private reserves; and b) does not require land categorized as forest to show “improvements” (i.e.

deforestation) in order for an individual to claim legitimate use. In addition, the titling of TCOs (Tierras

Comunitarias de Origen) in eastern Bolivia is putting limits on the expansion of un-managed, illegal

extraction of forest resources (World Bank 1995, Bolivia: National Land…, 80-83).

32

access to credit, efficient resources management, and conflict resolution, then, the

solution is straightforward. However, this naïf approach downplays the very unequal

basis of the power system in the country. In other words, it legitimizes a de facto situation

and, at the same time, makes these “new” lands available to the market.

Also problematic in the logic that links individual property rights with efficient use of

natural resources is the lack of clarity in the Bank’s policies. As the project diagnoses

acknowledge, indigenous peoples have enormous resistance to the privatization of

communal lands. However, neither in the Bolivian and Ecuadorian cases, specific

provisions to prevent land consolidation have been designed. It would seem that the Bank

regards communal rights as an unpleasant although necessary first step towards full

private property rights. In any case, it could be argued the from the Bank perspective,

collective titles are more attractive to foreign capital than no titles and uncertainty.

6.3. WB, State, NGOs, and Indigenous Organizations relationship: The de-

politicizing “ethno-development”

Press notes released by the Bank celebrate the Ecuador Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian

Peoples Development Project success for being the first time that a project defines its

objectives in terms of "ethno-development." It would be also the first time that Ecuador's

government has borrowed resources to invest in Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian

communities. And in “a coup for the Bank's inclusion efforts, the project marks the first

time beneficiaries have of gone to Washington D.C. to participate in project negotiations”

(World Bank 2002, Ethno-development…).

That the Ecuador’s government has borrowed for first time to invest in indigenous and

black peoples and that beneficiaries have participated in the Bank hearth quarters

negotiations is a sign of more inclusive political times. But it also could be read as the

ability of the state to adopt of a more appealing discourse for accessing development

loans. Whatever the reason, it is indicative of current times the definition of “ethno-

development” as a paradigmatic discourse replacing the modernization project.

33

In fact, the Ecuador Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Peoples Development Project is the

first Bank’s investment operation focused exclusively in indigenous peoples and ethnic

minorities (Nieuwkoop and Uquillas, 4) and it is presented as a major success. Curiously

the term “ethno-development” does not appear in first project documents (i.e. the project

appraisal of 1997) but in later ones. Thus, while in the first pieces is highlighted the

notion of “inter-culturalism” –or the need “to build a bridge of communication with

mestizo culture” (World Bank 1997, 21)—the paper written by Nieuwkoop and Uquillas

considers that ethnodevelopment:

[…] builds on the positive qualities of indigenous cultures and societies to

promote local employment and growth. Such qualities include these peoples’

strong sense of ethnic identity, close attachment to ancestral land, and capacity to

mobilize labor, capital, and other resources to achieve shared goals. These

dynamics are recognized as fundamental to the way in which indigenous peoples

define their own processes of development and interactions with other segments

of society (3).

Without trying to overshadow this optimist position, there are two issues to note. First,

the project discourse assumes a smooth relationship among the different actors involved

(settlers from the highlands, indigenous peoples from the lowlands, local elites, mestizo

population, NGO and State agents, entrepreneurs, functionaries from international

agencies, etc.), which blurs the complex power relations existing and the diverse aims

and strategies deployed for each group.

Second. As Hale has noted, normalizing “multiculturalism”, international lending

agencies assume the power to define the limits of appropriate and extremist difference, of

what could be tolerate and what not. In this sense, ethnodevelopment and others, re-

appropriates and reinstalls a long-standing fight for indigenous acknowledgement into a

capitalist logic.

34

A final word. It could be argued that since the early 1990s, land titling and securing

tenure have been identified as key elements in the development strategies elaborated by

international lending institutions. However, what is completely new in these land reforms

is the incorporation of concepts of multiculturalism, decentralization and some degree of

territorial autonomy in the projects. These projects are conceived not only as tools of

economic development but mainly as a political enterprise, which requires the

transformation of the nation-state and the inclusion of indigenous peoples into broader

society. Of course, the scale of these transformations will depend on the specific power

and economic alliances en each Latin American country.

35

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