Modern Colonization as a Facet of Land Development in Colombia, South America

Robert C. ?p>t* University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee Modern Colonization as a Facet of Land Development in Colombia, South America Practically every nation in Latin America is faced today with two major problems, both of which must be overcome if prosperity is to be achieved. One of these is the unfavorable divergence between population growth and food production. The second is the gross inequity of land distribution among the people. The seriousness of these two problems has produced great urgency for their resolution not only by countries directly involved but by other nations in the Western Hemisphere.1 Various solutions to Latin American difficulties have been developed and applied where feasible. One of these is the establishment of industrial facilities in order to create new sources of employment and to manufacture both farm implements and export items which may be exchanged for food. Another is the direct improvement of agriculture by mechanization and the introduction of better plant varieties. A third method is the attempt to bring about greater productivity by legislating land tenure and use reforms. A fourth is the opening of new areas by means of directed settlement, i.e., colonization—a solution which offers the advantage of adding quickly to the supply of food while simultaneously improving land distribution. 1 See J. A. Tosi, Jr. and R. F. Voertman, "Some Environmental Factors in the Economic Development of the Tropics," Economic Geography, Vol. 40, No. 3, 1964, esp. p. 196. • The author is indebted to the National Science Foundation and to the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee Graduate School for financial assistance in the field. 21 22ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS This paper attempts to trace the efforts of one country which has already applied the first three methods to improve its economy at making a start in the long neglected field of colonization. Access to special reports, both governmental and private, and field work among some of the original pioneers and planners of various contemporary settlement schemes reveal a complex record of events in Colombia which can provide other nations with useful information about the critical early phases of pioneer settlement. The case of Colombia is particularly interesting since it is one in which foreigners have been excluded from new colonization plans but in which instructive experiments with foreign settlement forms are being made. Colombians, perhaps justifiably, have until recently avoided official pioneer settlement programs because of civil strife which has been more or less continuous since the Thousand Day's War.2 Intermittent armed conflicts between Liberals and Conservatives have made all but large scale colonization dangerous because of guerilla warfare in the vast unoccupied or thinly settled Llanos Orientales, the Llanos de Bolívar, parts of the Magdalena Valley, and other empty areas. One of the unanticipated results of prolonged civil strife, however, has been the serious overcrowding of many of the older, more stably settled parts of the nation, especially the numerous cities. Indeed, the large refugee problem together with a high birth rate has created an imperative need to relieve these urban zones of heavy population pressure. Colombians and others now believe, therefore, that a partial solution to the dilemma would be achieved by bringing empty areas now occupying more than half of the nation into the economy. Private Colonization Government concern has brought about three indirect attempts to colonize unpopulated regions during the present century. In each case a private or semiprivate agency has been contracted for settle1 Disputes in Colombia between Liberals and Conservatives are well known. The Thousand Day's War began in 1899. It is claimed that by 1903 a hundred diousand or more lives were lost in battles, tìiat commerce was ruined, and that production of all kinds except subsistence agriculture was practically eradicated ( See die description in J. M. Henao and G. Arrubla, Historia de Colombia, Bogotá, 1936, p. 782). Further strife between 1946-1960 is said to have caused over 300,000 deadis in the country. volume 29 ? yearbook i 196723 ment. Although the attempts have been frustrating, they have had far-reaching consequences. The United Fruit Company3 In 1905 after the Thousand Day's War, foreign agriculturists were invited to settle unoccupied land in Colombia...