A Twenty-first Century Socialist Agriculture? Land Reform, Food Sovereignty and Peasant–State Dynamics in Venezuela
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Published
Jan 4, 2014
Daniel Lavelle
Abstract
This article examines state–peasantry dynamics in Venezuela in regards to the formation, implementation and contestation of land reform and agricultural policy. As a self-proclaimed socialist state, the Chávez Government has framed its agrarian policies as a reordering of the food system that prioritizes land redistribution, smallholder agriculture, and sustainable forms of production. Yet, despite an apparently positive policy context, rural dynamics have been characterized by conflict over land and a geographically and temporally uneven process of policy implementation in rural areas.
This article examines how peasants have engaged with Venezuela’s land reform processes and their role in shaping the character and scope of state policy. In particular, it investigates the dynamics of technically illegal peasant occupation of estates in a seemingly ‘pro-peasant’ policy context. Peasant–state dynamics are analysed through the lens of food sovereignty, where land reform processes and struggles represent contestation over conceptions of what constitutes ‘appropriate’ production in a ‘socialist’ agricultural regime.
How to Cite
Lavelle, D. (2014) “A Twenty-first Century Socialist Agriculture? Land Reform, Food Sovereignty and Peasant–State Dynamics in Venezuela”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food. Paris, France, 21(1), pp. 133–154. doi: 10.48416/ijsaf.v21i1.159.
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References
Altieri, M. (2009) Agroecology, small farms, and food sovereignty, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 102–111.
Arias, M.A. (2005) Agricultores ocupantes de fundo Bella Vista impiden realización de inspección judicial, Yaracuy al Día, 27 June, p. 12.
Barraclough, S.L. (1999) Land Reform in Developing Countries: The Role of the State and Other Actors, Discussion Paper 101. Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
Bello, W. and Baviera, M. (2009) Food wars, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 17–31.
Bernstein, H. (1996) Agrarian questions then and now, Journal of Peasant Studies, 24(1/2), pp. 22–59.
Bernstein, H. (2002) Land reform: taking a longer view, Journal of Agrarian Change, 2(4), pp. 443–463.
Bobrow-Strain, A. (2007) Intimate Enemies: Landowners, Power, and Violence in Chiapas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Borras, S.M., Jr. (2003) Questioning market-led agrarian reform: experiences from Brazil, Colombia and South Africa, Journal of Agrarian Change, 3(3), pp. 367–394.
Borras, S.M., Jr. (2005) Can redistributive reform be achieved via market-based voluntary land transfer schemes? evidence and lessons from the Philippines, Journal of Development Studies, 41(1), p. 90–134.
Boucher, S., Barham , B. and Carter, M. (2005) The impact of ‘market-friendly’ reforms on credit and land markets in Honduras and Nicaragua, World Development, 33(1), pp. 107–128.
Caraba lí, J.A. (2003) Demandados invasores de tierras del Central Matilde, El Yaracuyano, 27 May.
Castillo, N. (2005) Chávez signó nuevos recursos para plan nacional de semillas, Tiempo de Zamora, May, p. 8.
De Janvry, A. (1981) The Agrarian Question and Reformism in Latin America. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
De Janvry, A., Sad oulet, E. and Wolford, W. (1998) From State-led to Grassroots-led Land Reform in Latin America. Prepared for WIDER-FAO workshop, Santiago, 27–29 April.
Delahaye, O. (2001) Políticas de Tierras de Venezuela en el Siglo XX. Caracas: Fondo Editorial Tropykos.
Delahaye, O. (2002) La discusión sobre la ley de tierras: espejismos y realidades, SIC, 647, pp. 351–354.
Delahaye, O. (2003) La Privatización de la Tierra Agrícola en Venezuela, desde Cristóbal Colón: la Titulación (1492–2001). Caracas: Fondo Editorial Tropykos,
De Schutter, O. (2010) Report Submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Geneva: United Nations Human Rights Council.
Enríquez, L. (2003) Economic reform and repeasantization in post-1990 Cuba, Latin American Research Review, 38(1), pp. 202–218.
Enríquez, L. (2013) The paradoxes of Latin America’s ‘pink tide’: Venezuela and the project of agrarian reform, Journal of Peasant Studies, 40(4), pp. 611–638.
Espinoza, M. (2005a) Más de 40 pequeños productores recibieron cartas agrarias, Yaracuy al Día, 9 July, p. 12.
Espinoza, M. (2005b) Trabajadores de agropecuaria Santa Isabel acuden a la Gobernación, Yaracuy al Día, 23 July, p. 12.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) (2012) The State of Food and Agriculture. Rome: FAO.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) (2013) The State of Food and Agriculture. Rome: FAO.
Fourcad e-Gourinchas, M. and Babb , S. (2002) The rebirth of the liberal creed: paths to neoliberalism in four countries, American Journal of Sociology, 108(3), pp. 533–579.
Gates Founda tion (2013) Agricultural Development: Strategy Overview. Published online:, accessed 23 June 2013.
Griffin, K., Khan, A.R. and Ickowitz, A. (2002) Poverty and the distribution of land, Journal of Agrarian Change, 2(3), pp. 279–330.
Griffon, D. (2011) Agricultura en Venezuela: ¿Centralismo o Autonomía?, Cal y Arena, 4.
Harvey, D. (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Holt-Giménez, E. (2009) From food crisis to food sovereignty, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 142–156..
Isak son, R. (2009) No hay ganancia en la milpa: the agrarian question, food sovereignty, and the on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in the Guatemalan highlands, Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(4), pp. 725–759.
Karl, T.L. (1997) The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kautsky, K. (1988) The Agrarian Question, transl. Pete Burgess. London: Zwan Publications.
Kay, C. (1998) Latin America’s agrarian reform: lights and shadows, Land Reform, 1998(2).
Margheritis, A. and Pereira, A.W. (2007) The neoliberal turn in Latin America: the cycle of ideas and the search for an alternative, Latin American Perspectives, 34(3), pp. 25–48.
Márquez, P. (2003) The Hugo Chávez phenomenon: what do ‘the people’ think?, in: S. Ellner and D. Hellinger (eds) Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization and Conflict. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
McMichael, P. (2009a) A food regime genealogy, Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(1), pp. 139–169.
McMichael, P. (2009b) The world food crisis in historical perspective, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 32–47.
Menezes, F. (2001) Food sovereignty: a vital requirement for food security in the context of globalization, Development, 44(4), pp. 29-33.
Nacional (2013) Venezuela busca cambiar petróleo por alimentos en Cumbre de Petrocaribe, El Nacional, 28 June., published online:
Page, T. (2010) Can the state create campesinos? A comparative analysis of the Venezuelan and Cuban repeasantization programmes, Journal of Agrarian Change, 10(2), pp. 251–272.
Patel, R. (2009) Food sovereignty, Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(3), pp. 663–706.
Ploeg, Jan Douwe van der (2008) The New Peasantries. London: Earthscan.
Polanyi, K. (2001) Great Transformation: The Political Economic Origins of Our Time, 2nd edn. Boston: Beacon Press.
Potter, B. (2007) Constricting contestation, coalitions, and purpose: the causes of neoliberal restructuring and its failures, Latin American Perspectives, 34(3), pp. 3–24.
PROVE A (2004) Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela: Informe Anual: Oct. 2003–Sept. 2004. Caracas: PROVEA.
PROVE A (2011) Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela: Informe Anual: Oct. 2010–Sept. 2011. Caracas: PROVEA.
PROVE A (2012) Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela: Informe Anual: Jan.–Dec. 2012. Caracas: PROVEA.
Quevedo, A. (2000) Policías desalojaron a ocupantes del sector San-Juan-Santa Lucía, Yaracuy al Día, 27 January.
Quevedo, A. (2003) Un muerto y cuatro herido deja ataque de grupo armado en Hacienda Santa Catalina, Yaracuy al Día, 27 October.
República Bolivariana de Venezuela (2000) Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela: con exposición de motivos. Caracas: Vadell Hermanos Editores.
Ríos, J. and Carvallo, G. (1990) Análisis Histórico de la organización del Espacio en Venezuela. Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Rosset, P. (2006) Moving forward: agrarian reform as a part of food sovereignty, in: P. Rosset, R. Patel and M. Courville (eds) Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform. Oakland, CA: Food First, pp. 301–321 .
Smith, J. (2008) Social Movements for Global Democracy. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Soto, O.D. (2003) El Proceso Agro-reformista y la Revolución Chavista. Maturín: Servicio Autónomo Imprenta del Estado Monagas.
Suggett, J. (2010) Venezuelan Land Law Reform Promises ‘Land for Those Who Work on It’. Published online.
Thiesenhusen, W. (ed.) (1989) Searching for Agrarian Reform in Latin America. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman.
Thiesenhusen, W. (1995) Broken Promises: Agrarian Reform and the Latin American Campesino. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Trotsky, L. (1957) The History of the Russian Revolution. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Universal (2013) Venezuela gets ready to import over 700 000 tons of food, El Universal, 31 May, published online:, accessed 15 June 2013.
Univision (2005) Chavez Pide Acelerar ‘Guerra Contra el Latifundio’ en Venezuela. Published online:.
Via Cam pesina (2007) Declaration of Nyeleni. Published online:.
Wilpert, G. (2006) Land for people not for profit in Venezuela, in: P. Rosset, R. Patel and M.Courville (eds) Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform. Oakland, CA: Food First, pp. 249–264 .
Windfuhr, M. and Jonsén, J. (2005) Food Sovereignty: Towards Democracy in Localized Food Systems. Rugby: ITDG Publishing.
World Bank (2007) Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Wright, A. and Wolford, W. (2003) To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement and the Struggle for a New Brazil. Oakland, CA: Food First.
Yaracuy al Día (2002) Enfrentamiento entre campesinos y efectivos policiales deja 17 heridos, Yaracuy al Día, 13 July.
Yaracuy al Día (2003) Grupo armado ataca a campesinos ocupantes del fundo Santa Catalina, Yaracuy al Día, 22 July.
Yaracuy al Día (2005) Hoy se firma decreto nacional contra el latifundio, Yaracuy al Día, 10 January.
Yashar, D. (2005) Citizenship Regimes and Indigenous Politics in Latin America. Presented at Claiming Citizenship in the Americas, Conference at the University of Montreal, 27 M
Arias, M.A. (2005) Agricultores ocupantes de fundo Bella Vista impiden realización de inspección judicial, Yaracuy al Día, 27 June, p. 12.
Barraclough, S.L. (1999) Land Reform in Developing Countries: The Role of the State and Other Actors, Discussion Paper 101. Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
Bello, W. and Baviera, M. (2009) Food wars, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 17–31.
Bernstein, H. (1996) Agrarian questions then and now, Journal of Peasant Studies, 24(1/2), pp. 22–59.
Bernstein, H. (2002) Land reform: taking a longer view, Journal of Agrarian Change, 2(4), pp. 443–463.
Bobrow-Strain, A. (2007) Intimate Enemies: Landowners, Power, and Violence in Chiapas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Borras, S.M., Jr. (2003) Questioning market-led agrarian reform: experiences from Brazil, Colombia and South Africa, Journal of Agrarian Change, 3(3), pp. 367–394.
Borras, S.M., Jr. (2005) Can redistributive reform be achieved via market-based voluntary land transfer schemes? evidence and lessons from the Philippines, Journal of Development Studies, 41(1), p. 90–134.
Boucher, S., Barham , B. and Carter, M. (2005) The impact of ‘market-friendly’ reforms on credit and land markets in Honduras and Nicaragua, World Development, 33(1), pp. 107–128.
Caraba lí, J.A. (2003) Demandados invasores de tierras del Central Matilde, El Yaracuyano, 27 May.
Castillo, N. (2005) Chávez signó nuevos recursos para plan nacional de semillas, Tiempo de Zamora, May, p. 8.
De Janvry, A. (1981) The Agrarian Question and Reformism in Latin America. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
De Janvry, A., Sad oulet, E. and Wolford, W. (1998) From State-led to Grassroots-led Land Reform in Latin America. Prepared for WIDER-FAO workshop, Santiago, 27–29 April.
Delahaye, O. (2001) Políticas de Tierras de Venezuela en el Siglo XX. Caracas: Fondo Editorial Tropykos.
Delahaye, O. (2002) La discusión sobre la ley de tierras: espejismos y realidades, SIC, 647, pp. 351–354.
Delahaye, O. (2003) La Privatización de la Tierra Agrícola en Venezuela, desde Cristóbal Colón: la Titulación (1492–2001). Caracas: Fondo Editorial Tropykos,
De Schutter, O. (2010) Report Submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Geneva: United Nations Human Rights Council.
Enríquez, L. (2003) Economic reform and repeasantization in post-1990 Cuba, Latin American Research Review, 38(1), pp. 202–218.
Enríquez, L. (2013) The paradoxes of Latin America’s ‘pink tide’: Venezuela and the project of agrarian reform, Journal of Peasant Studies, 40(4), pp. 611–638.
Espinoza, M. (2005a) Más de 40 pequeños productores recibieron cartas agrarias, Yaracuy al Día, 9 July, p. 12.
Espinoza, M. (2005b) Trabajadores de agropecuaria Santa Isabel acuden a la Gobernación, Yaracuy al Día, 23 July, p. 12.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) (2012) The State of Food and Agriculture. Rome: FAO.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) (2013) The State of Food and Agriculture. Rome: FAO.
Fourcad e-Gourinchas, M. and Babb , S. (2002) The rebirth of the liberal creed: paths to neoliberalism in four countries, American Journal of Sociology, 108(3), pp. 533–579.
Gates Founda tion (2013) Agricultural Development: Strategy Overview. Published online:
Griffin, K., Khan, A.R. and Ickowitz, A. (2002) Poverty and the distribution of land, Journal of Agrarian Change, 2(3), pp. 279–330.
Griffon, D. (2011) Agricultura en Venezuela: ¿Centralismo o Autonomía?, Cal y Arena, 4.
Harvey, D. (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Holt-Giménez, E. (2009) From food crisis to food sovereignty, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 142–156..
Isak son, R. (2009) No hay ganancia en la milpa: the agrarian question, food sovereignty, and the on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in the Guatemalan highlands, Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(4), pp. 725–759.
Karl, T.L. (1997) The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kautsky, K. (1988) The Agrarian Question, transl. Pete Burgess. London: Zwan Publications.
Kay, C. (1998) Latin America’s agrarian reform: lights and shadows, Land Reform, 1998(2).
Margheritis, A. and Pereira, A.W. (2007) The neoliberal turn in Latin America: the cycle of ideas and the search for an alternative, Latin American Perspectives, 34(3), pp. 25–48.
Márquez, P. (2003) The Hugo Chávez phenomenon: what do ‘the people’ think?, in: S. Ellner and D. Hellinger (eds) Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization and Conflict. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
McMichael, P. (2009a) A food regime genealogy, Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(1), pp. 139–169.
McMichael, P. (2009b) The world food crisis in historical perspective, Monthly Review, 61(3), pp. 32–47.
Menezes, F. (2001) Food sovereignty: a vital requirement for food security in the context of globalization, Development, 44(4), pp. 29-33.
Nacional (2013) Venezuela busca cambiar petróleo por alimentos en Cumbre de Petrocaribe, El Nacional, 28 June., published online:
Page, T. (2010) Can the state create campesinos? A comparative analysis of the Venezuelan and Cuban repeasantization programmes, Journal of Agrarian Change, 10(2), pp. 251–272.
Patel, R. (2009) Food sovereignty, Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(3), pp. 663–706.
Ploeg, Jan Douwe van der (2008) The New Peasantries. London: Earthscan.
Polanyi, K. (2001) Great Transformation: The Political Economic Origins of Our Time, 2nd edn. Boston: Beacon Press.
Potter, B. (2007) Constricting contestation, coalitions, and purpose: the causes of neoliberal restructuring and its failures, Latin American Perspectives, 34(3), pp. 3–24.
PROVE A (2004) Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela: Informe Anual: Oct. 2003–Sept. 2004. Caracas: PROVEA.
PROVE A (2011) Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela: Informe Anual: Oct. 2010–Sept. 2011. Caracas: PROVEA.
PROVE A (2012) Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela: Informe Anual: Jan.–Dec. 2012. Caracas: PROVEA.
Quevedo, A. (2000) Policías desalojaron a ocupantes del sector San-Juan-Santa Lucía, Yaracuy al Día, 27 January.
Quevedo, A. (2003) Un muerto y cuatro herido deja ataque de grupo armado en Hacienda Santa Catalina, Yaracuy al Día, 27 October.
República Bolivariana de Venezuela (2000) Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela: con exposición de motivos. Caracas: Vadell Hermanos Editores.
Ríos, J. and Carvallo, G. (1990) Análisis Histórico de la organización del Espacio en Venezuela. Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Rosset, P. (2006) Moving forward: agrarian reform as a part of food sovereignty, in: P. Rosset, R. Patel and M. Courville (eds) Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform. Oakland, CA: Food First, pp. 301–321 .
Smith, J. (2008) Social Movements for Global Democracy. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Soto, O.D. (2003) El Proceso Agro-reformista y la Revolución Chavista. Maturín: Servicio Autónomo Imprenta del Estado Monagas.
Suggett, J. (2010) Venezuelan Land Law Reform Promises ‘Land for Those Who Work on It’. Published online
Thiesenhusen, W. (ed.) (1989) Searching for Agrarian Reform in Latin America. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman.
Thiesenhusen, W. (1995) Broken Promises: Agrarian Reform and the Latin American Campesino. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Trotsky, L. (1957) The History of the Russian Revolution. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Universal (2013) Venezuela gets ready to import over 700 000 tons of food, El Universal, 31 May, published online:
Univision (2005) Chavez Pide Acelerar ‘Guerra Contra el Latifundio’ en Venezuela. Published online:
Via Cam pesina (2007) Declaration of Nyeleni. Published online:
Wilpert, G. (2006) Land for people not for profit in Venezuela, in: P. Rosset, R. Patel and M.Courville (eds) Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform. Oakland, CA: Food First, pp. 249–264 .
Windfuhr, M. and Jonsén, J. (2005) Food Sovereignty: Towards Democracy in Localized Food Systems. Rugby: ITDG Publishing.
World Bank (2007) Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Wright, A. and Wolford, W. (2003) To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement and the Struggle for a New Brazil. Oakland, CA: Food First.
Yaracuy al Día (2002) Enfrentamiento entre campesinos y efectivos policiales deja 17 heridos, Yaracuy al Día, 13 July.
Yaracuy al Día (2003) Grupo armado ataca a campesinos ocupantes del fundo Santa Catalina, Yaracuy al Día, 22 July.
Yaracuy al Día (2005) Hoy se firma decreto nacional contra el latifundio, Yaracuy al Día, 10 January.
Yashar, D. (2005) Citizenship Regimes and Indigenous Politics in Latin America. Presented at Claiming Citizenship in the Americas, Conference at the University of Montreal, 27 M
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