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Sin Maíz, No Hay País: Corn in Mexico Under Neoliberalism, 1940-2008

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Sin Maíz, No Hay País: Corn in Mexico Under Neoliberalism, 1940-2008 SIN MAÍZ, NO HAY PAÍS: CORN IN MEXICO UNDER NEOLIBERALISM, 1940-2008 Matthew Caire A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2010 Committee: Amílcar Challú, Advisor Candace Archer Francisco Cabanillas ii ABSTRACT Amílcar Challú, Advisor In Mexican history, corn is far more than a culinary ingredient or farm product. Corn has been a cultural emblem and key component to the country’s national identity that throughout the twentieth-century the Mexican government embraced. However, since the adoption of neoliberal economic policies, which by necessity involves particular political policies, many Mexicans feel that corn’s significance in the country has changed. Over the last three decades public discontent with corn policies, which the public translates as anti-neoliberalism policies, has gradually grown. This thesis chronicles the growing discontent over corn policies and, more importantly, demonstrates how Mexican people have evolved to become agents for recentralizing corn in the country’s political, economic, and cultural discourses. iii This thesis is dedicated to Precious Vida Yamaguchi and Sonya JoJo Caire for their overwhelming support and tolerating my anxiety I had throughout writing this thesis. This modest contribution to Latin American history is also dedicated to the people who are doing what they can to preserve maíz criollo and other treasured cultural artifacts from the threat of being lost due to economics and politics. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The first person that deserves acknowledgement for the completion of this thesis is Dr. Amílcar Challú. His commitment to helping me take on this topic and patience in dealing with my shortcomings as a student cannot be overstated. I can only hope that this thesis serves as a respectable reflection of Dr. Challú’s excellence as a historian of Latin America, leader and mentor. Dr. Cabanillas should be acknowledged for his insightful ideas and suggestions. Dr. Archer must be acknowledged for not only being a member of my thesis committee even though Mexican history is far from her research interests, but because she taught me about the frameworks of international political economy, which was key to the completion of this project. Finally, I must acknowledge Bowling Green State University’s Department of History for their financial and academic support towards the completion of this thesis. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER I. CORN IN THE CITIES: ACCESS TO TORTILLAS IN MEXICO CITY, 1940- 2008………………………………………………………………………………………... 6 Affordability of Tortillas in Mexico……………………...……………………...…. 7 Sources……………………………………….............................................. …… … 8 Trends in the affordability of tortillas……………………………………………… 14 Access to Tortillas, 1940-1972…………………………………………………….. 15 Access to Tortillas, 1973-1994…………………………………………………….. 21 Real Tortilla Prices, 1995-2008……………………………………………………. 29 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………… 34 CHAPTER II. FROM COMMONPLACE TO CONCERN: CORN IN MEXICO’S RURAL AREAS, 1934-2008 ............................................................................................................ 37 Mexico’s Campesinos and Corn, 1934-1940………………………………………. 39 Corn and the Green Revolution in Mexico’s Countryside, 1940-1981……………. 42 Corn in the Neoliberal Era, 1981-1994…………………………….………………. 48 Corn and Campesinos during the Free Trade Era and Globalization, 1995-2008…. 52 Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………… 63 CHAPTER III. CORN, NEOLIBERALISM AND POPULAR UNREST IN MEXICO, 1993- 2008…………………………………………………………………………………............ 66 Sources …………………………………………………………………………….. 67 A History of Protests Related to Corn Policies in Modern Mexico……………….. 69 vi Campesinos and Mexico’s Corn Policies in the 1990s…………………..….....….. 71 Mexico’s Problems Related to Corn Policies Expands: Urban and Environmental Movements………………………………………………………………..………... 76 Mexico’s Corn Problems Spread…………………………………………………... 82 Corn Becomes a National Spectacle…………………………………..…………... 87 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………... 97 CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………….. 101 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 106 APPENDIX A. WAGES....................................................................................................... 114 APPENDIX B. TORTILLA PRICES................................................................................... 116 vii LIST OF FIGURES/TABLES Figure/Table Page 1 Index of Popular Wages in Mexico, 1940-2008 (1984=100) .................................... 11 2 Wage-Corrected Tortilla Prices Index for Mexico City and National Urban Centers (2002=100)………….……………………………………………………………... 12 3 Wage-Corrected Tortilla Prices Index, 1940-2008 (1940=100)…………………… 13 4 Federal District daily manufacturing wages and tortilla prices, 1940-1972.............. 18 5 Federal District daily manufacturing wages and tortilla prices, 1973-1994.............. 21 6 National daily manufacturing wages and Mexico City tortilla prices, 1995-2008.... 29 7 Political cartoon representing the death of criollo Mexican corn, by Rafael Barajas 85 1 INTRODUCTION On March 18, 1938, Lázaro Cárdenas, the Mexican president at the time, expropriated Mexico’s oil industry. After much conflict, unsatisfactory negotiating with foreign oil companies, and threats of foreign intervention, Cárdenas expropriated the assets of nearly all the foreign oil companies operating in Mexico. Many Mexicans saw Cárdenas’ decision as a symbol of nationalistic pride. Josephus Daniels, the American ambassador to Mexico, recalled that in the aftermath of the celebration around the country because of the act that thousands of people marched on the Zócalo, the country’s most famous plaza, offering donations to compensate the oil companies for their expropriated assets. Describing the celebration, Daniels explained, “They took off wedding rings, bracelets, earrings, and put them, as it seemed to them, on a national altar…When night came crowds still waited to deposit their offerings, which comprised everything from gold and silver to animals and corn.”1 The donations made it clear that people believed that a Mexico without transnational oil profits would survive. Mexicans’ donations also exemplified to the world that in Mexico, Sin maíz, no hay país (Without corn, there is no country). Mexicans’ “corn for oil” gestures after the expropriation in 1938 exemplified the intimate connection between corn and Mexicans. Along with valuable metals and farm animals, corn was considered a unit valuable or worthy enough to be exchanged for perhaps Mexico’s most profitable natural resource. Symbolically, in exchange for the national state gaining economic independence, corn, the country’s most valued grain, was seen as a worthy “donation” to foreign companies for their losses. Throughout history, for millions of Mexicans corn has been regarded as more than a grain that was born in the country. It has been regarded as a religious deity, 1 Michael Gonzales, The Mexican Revolution, 1910­1940 (Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 2002), 252. 2 commodity, symbol of life, representation for nationalistic pride, product for occupation, commodity, ingredient for food, and cultural emblem. Corn, scientifically known as Zea mays, originated in Mexico. According to Nadal, a great part of the evolution that may be observed in terms of corn’s genetic variability took place in Mexico.2 Scenes of corn, and its diverse colors and sizes, can be traced back to pre- Columbian times in Mexico City.3 In the early twentieth-century, Emiliano Zapata, regarded as a member of Mexico’s pantheon of national heroes, is known for being the champion of the country’s hombres de maíz (the people of corn).4 In addition, the Mexican government, through propaganda and pseudo-scientific findings, tried to persuade Mexicans off their dietary reliance on corn for decades, going as far as saying that corn was a symbol of backwardness and hindrance to Mexican modernization from the 1890s to the 1940s. Nevertheless, by 1943, corn was found to have substantial nutritional value and its dietary importance to Mexicans was unquestioned.5 Anthropological studies published in the early-1990s explain how some indigenous groups, specifically the Nahuas, continued to regard corn as “the absolute necessity of life, the source of nourishment that takes precedence over all others [foods].”6 As will be measured and discussed, corn has remained a valuable part of Mexicans in a modern context. Furthermore, corn’s historical importance to national identity and dietary significance make it imperative that people can afford the grain. 2 Alejandro Nadal, “Mexican Corn: Genetic Variability and Trade Liberalization.” PROCIENTIC, Documento de Trabajo No. 1‐0 (Mexico, D.F.: El Colegio de México, 2001), 1. 3 Jeffrey M. Pilcher, Que vivan los tamales: Food and the Making of the Mexican Identity (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998), 8. 4 Tom Barry, Zapata’s Revenge: Free Trade and the Farm Crisis in Mexico (Boston: South End Press, 1995), 2. 5 Pilcher 93‐97. 6 Alan R. Sandstrom. Corn Is Our Blood: Culture and Ethnic Identity in a Contemporary Aztec Indian Village (University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, Oklahoma, 1991), 128. 3 The acquisition
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