Can the State Create Campesinos? A Comparative Analysis of the Venezuelan and Cuban Repeasantization Programmes

Abstract

I examine Venezuela's repeasantization programme Vuelta al Campo, which was part of a larger effort to pursue a redistributive path to development. Through exploring this case and contrasting it with Cuba's repeasantization programme in the 1990s, I draw conclusions that extend our understanding of what makes such a state‐led development programme work. The state in Venezuela played an indispensable role by providing many forms of necessary support for launching such an ambitious project – e.g. financial resources and legal title to the land – but failed to truly increase participation in decision‐making. Increased participation by those affected by the Vuelta al Campo programme could have prevented or minimized some of the problems that arose. Moreover, the programme had the unintended consequence of demobilizing participants who had previously been politically engaged. This demobilization undermined the larger national social project – building ‘21st‐century socialism’.