Peasants Under Siege : Political Economy of Conservation and State

PEASANTS UNDER SIEGE: POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CONSERVATION AND STATE CONTROL IN THE CORDILLERA CENTRAL, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC By MATTHEW M. McPHERSON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2003 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks goes to the campesinos in the hamlets of the Cordillera who generously spent hours sharing their time and knowledge with me while I was conducting this research. In particular, my gratitude goes to the people of Los Postes and Las Papas: Tomasina, Rosanna, Juan, Loli, Antonio, Cookie, Kung and especially Don Pedro and Don Martin, the two octogenarians who inspired me to tell the story of the 'good old days' in the Cordillera. I want to thank the members of my doctoral committee, Drs. Gerald Murray, Helen Safa, Marianne Schmink, Anthony Oliver-Smith and Michael Bannister for their support during this process. Much of the inspiration for this dissertation came from the literature and ideas to which I was exposed in Dr. Safa's seminar on Caribbean Anthropology, Dr. Schmink' s seminar on Anthropology and Development, and Dr. Oliver-Smith's course on Economic Anthropology. I am especially indebted to Dr. Murray, the chair of my committee, who has been a true mentor, always proved willing to share his vast knowledge of rural life in Hispaniola and provided unwavering and ongoing support throughout my tenure as a graduate student and during the write-up phase of this dissertation. Dr. Timothy Schwartz has been a close and supportive friend, a colleague in the field, and spent endless hours reviewing early drafts of this manuscript. His edits and insights represent an invaluable contribution to this dissertation. I am deeply grateful for the support that he provided during this process. ii friends in the Dominican Over the years I have accumulated a debt of gratitude to RepubUc and the U.S. Domingo Marte provided the opportunity that kindled my interest in parks and conservation in the Dominican Republic. Rene Ledesma and his wife Rosario have been close and supportive friends. Fatima Portorreal shared her personal library, friendship, and knowledge of Dominican rural life. Larry Gorenflo generously gave of his time in helping me to produce maps. Michelle Libby provided opportunities for fieldwork and new professional challenges. Jim Perm generously took time away from his own writing to do favors for me on campus. Shay Stautz provided ongoing encouragement and challenged me to continue to grow personally and professionally. Friends in the Secretariat of the Environment, FLACSO and the Fundacion Moscoso Puello also provided ongoing support and assistance. Much of the research on which this dissertation is based largely took place with fimding from The Nature Conservancy under the guise of a Human Ecological Assessment of Rancier and Bermiidez National Parks (1998-99). Follow-up research was conducted with a grant from WIDTECH to study gender and conservation in the Cordillera in the summer of 2001 . I gratefiilly acknowledge the support of both of these organizations. Finally, I would like to thank my family: my parents Neil and Judy, my sister Chris and my mother-in-law Norma for their years of patience ongoing encouragement and support. Most important, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife and closest friend Ana Maria. She has patiently endured many years of frequent and extended absences and sacrificed her own time and social life so that I could complete this study. I could not have completed this dissertation without her daily support and encouragement. iii 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Summary of Argument 1 Theoretical Considerations 3 Research Objectives and Methods 16 Organization of Dissertation 19 Notes 21 2 GEOGRAPHY, PARKS, AND RESEARCH SITES OF THE CORDILLERA CENTRAL 25 Introduction 25 Geography of the Cordillera 25 Research Area 26 The Parks 37 Origins of the Peasants of the Cordillera Hinterlands 39 Conclusion 42 Notes 43 3 COWS, PIGS, AND PICKET FENCES: PAST LIFE IN THE CORDILLERA 48 Introduction 48 Martin Garcia: The Good Old Days 48 Early Peasant Economy 5 Land Availability: Foundation of The Golden Age 57 Agro-Pastoral Complex 59 Conclusion 67 Notes 69 4 STATE CONTROL AND PEASANTS DURING THE TRUJILLO ERA 72 Introduction 72 Pre-Trujillo Period: Brief Historical Background 72 State Control and Peasant Formation Under Trujillo (1930-1961) 74 iv Beginning of the Decline 76 Conclusion 84 Notes 85 5 TIMBER AND FORESTRY LAWS DURING THE TRUJILLO ERA 88 Introduction 88 Traditional Cutting versus Logging 88 Early Forestry Legislation 90 Enforcement of Forestry Laws 93 Conclusion 95 Notes 96 6 CRIMES OF THE FOREST: CANELA AND THE CREATION OF BERMUDEZ NATIONAL PARK 99 Introduction 99 Park Formation: Armando Bermudez National Park 101 Displacements 117 Forest Crime 119 Conclusion 121 Notes 122 7 STATE OF SIEGE I: CHEAP LABOR AND CHEAP FOOD, INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION OF THE REPUBLIC 125 Introduction 125 Two Faces of United States Occupation 126 Urban-Based Development 129 Providing Cheap Labor to Capital 131 State Neglect of Agriculture 141 Conclusion 144 Notes 146 8 STATE OF SIEGE 2: CONSERVATION AND MILITARIZATION OF THE HINTERLANDS 149 Introduction 149 Conservation in the Immediate Post-Trujillo Period 149 Forest Conservation: 1970s through the 1990s 153 Impacts on Campesino Adaptation 154 Conclusion 161 Notes 161 9 CONSERVATION, CONTRABAND AND POWERHOLDERS 1 64 Introduction 164 FORESTA and Paying of Bribes 165 V The Big Farmers 171^ ' Conclusion ' Notes 174 10 BENEFICIARIES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CORDILLERA Introduction Government and Rural Development Organizations 176 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) 177 Conservation, Campesinos and NGOs 183 1 oo Conclusion Notes 11 ENEMIES OF THE FOREST: CAMPESINO RESISTANCE AND THE CREATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DELINQUENCY 191 Introduction Petty Forms of Resistance 192 Fire 193 Stubborn Defiance 195 Creative forms of Resistance 196 Conclusion 201 Notes 202 12 CRACKS IN THE ARMOR: EMERGENCE OF PEASANT SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES IN THE INTERSTICES OF STATE CONTROL 209 Introduction 209 Political Crises 209 Elections 211 Natural Disasters 213 Areas Beyond Reach of State Control 213 Conclusion 215 Notes 215 13 CHANGING ADAPTIVE PATTERNS: DYING WAY OF LIFE IN THE CORDILLERA 216 Introduction 216 Dependency on the Market 217 Access to Productive Land and Farming Strategies 218 Impact of Need for Cash 222 Decline in Pastoral Activities 225 Diversification of Survival Activities 226 Conclusion 230 Notes 231 vi 1 235 14 GENDER AND MIGRATION IN THE CORDILLERA Introduction ^-^^ Exodus ^-^^ Skewed Sex Ratios 241 Differential Male vs. Female Migration 242 Persistence of Gender Roles and Change in Demand for Female Labor 245 Rural Push Factors 247 Conclusion Notes 259 15 BOYS WEED, GIRLS STUDY: MIGRATION AND CHANGING SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 263 Introduction 263 Marriage Patterns 263 Education 268 Urban Employment 272 Conclusion 274 Notes 276 16 CONCLUSIONS 279 Summary: State of Siege 279 Dying Way of Life 28 Future Trends 284 Notes 287 APPENDIX A BRIEF HISTORY OF LUMBER EXPLOITATION IN THE DOMEsflCAN REPUBLIC UP TO THE TRUJILLO PERIOD 288 Early Lumber Exploitation 288 The Emergence of the Lumber Industry in the Cordillera Central 290 Notes 294 B MODERN DOMINICAN FORESTRY LAWS 295 C HISTORICAL EXCHANGE RATES 298 D SELECTED DATA ON FIRE, MIGRATION AND SEX RATIOS 299 BIBLIOGRAPHY 304 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 318 vii Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy PEASANTS UNDER SIEGE: POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CONSERVATION AND STATE CONTROL IN THE CORDILLERA CENTRAL, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC By Matthew M. McPherson May, 2003 Chair: Gerald F. Murray Major Department: Anthropology This study documents the historical and material processes that have led to the transformation of peasant lifeways in the highlands of the Cordillera Central mountain range in the Dominican Republic. The traditional peasant survival strategies of the region required free access to natural resources and significant autonomy from the state. These two elements provided the foundation for a time that elderly farmers nostalgically remember as a peasant golden age. The multiple forms of state intervention that were initiated during the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, including the passage of forestry laws and the formation of protected areas, signaled the end of the golden age. In the years after Trujillo, conservation policies evolved in conjunction with cenfral state development strategies that responded to the interests of international and urban power holders. Along with other forms of state intervention, conservation laws changed the rules governing access to and use of resources, systematically alienated peasants from the factors of production and transferred control over forest resources to powerful stakeholders. This study rejects Marxist assumptions regarding the inevitability of the proletarianization of the peasanfry and builds instead on the notion that human subsistence sfrategies and social-structural configurations are responsive and adaptive. viii absence Peasant activities have surged and retracted in line with state presence. But in the of a breakdown of the state, statistical and ethnographic evidence suggests that the remaining peasants in the Cordillera are the final generations

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