WR: MEXICO: RURAL DISCONTENT

Created: 6/14/1974

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

Weekly Review

mexico: RURAL discontent

violence and signs ol rural discon-lent are ence jgjin plaguing, the Ecfteve'na

The strange case ol the political boss ol Ihe southwestern state of Guerrero, Senator Ruben Figueroa. kidnaped two weeks ago by guerrilla lender Lucio Cabanas, romains unresolved. Calianas operates in Gueirero androm the peasants there. Flguoroa. the government's Choice lor state governor inthis December, wonteeting he hadh Cabanas to ollei him amnesl>

v-umpounaing ine rigueroa problem was tho kidnaping last weekealthy Mexicanand the murdertudent leader In Guadalajara. The businessman died while inapparentlyeart attack, but hisbrought lo light what couldewgroup called the Salvador Allende Command.

tension

liuadaiajara. the scene of many acts of violence in the past several months.

Many in Ihe government also recognizethe end. the qr.evances of tho guorrillasbe resolved byeco-

nomic inequities.

In

^DfH.ampesmos and kTiwefOKTied Itwo incidents arising from the use of farm land. These confrontations do not always end in shoot-outs-sumctirres politic ans save the s'tuation with freshbloodshed on the campo is nol uncommon.

the government still lumps the guerrillas together with common crirru

The unrest isesult of corruption and cxpn, but ignorance, populationa shortage of good land, and theon industry during the lastears also play

28 WEEKLY REVIE

4

irrimno ran numi

mromising to improve the lot of theommitment he frequently renews during trips to the Countryside. He has already made rrxre trips to the provinces than his three predecessors did during their collectiveears in ollice, but the peasants have seen little results from these journeys.

Probably the chief factor responsible for the uniest, however. Is the government's agrarian policy, with its systemdo farms. Thoant of the ancient Indian communal lands, satisfied the urgent political need to give land to millions of impoverished peasants. But it has failed to meet tbe food needs of the country oi the economic needs of the peasants themselves. The Echaverria administration inlands to ease the problem of sluggish growth in agriculturalin part by collectivizingdos and by providing them with increased public and private credit. The small landowner will not betoo is included in plans for increasedthe emphasis will b* on collectives and agribusiness.

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