Between the bullet and the bank: agrarian conflict and access to land in neoliberal Guatemala

Abstract

In the midst of neoliberal restructuring and a project of market-led agrarian reform (MLAR), Guatemalan rural communities and peasant organizations have fought to access, reclaim, or hold onto communal land through direct action. This essay explores the dynamics of organized agrarian struggle in contemporary Guatemala, arguing that three forms of organizing that have been labeled officially as ‘agrarian conflicts’ – historical land claims, rural labour disputes, and land occupations – together account for more peasant land access than has been delivered through the MLAR system. The difficulty of escaping the neoliberal model is also discussed, and the essay concludes that even the most successful grassroots campaigns for land have fed into the implementation of neoliberal restructuring.