From State - led to Grassroots - led Land Reform in Latin America

Over the last eighty years, virtually all Latin American governments have used the power of the state to alter access to land for specific categories of households and to redefine land rights for those with access. Extensive land reforms were part of the outcome of revolutions in Mexico (1917), Bolivia (1952), and Nicaragua (1979). Authoritarian governments imposed land reforms in Peru (1969-75) and Ecuador (1964). Democratically elected governments also pursued land reforms in Chile (1964-73), Colombia (1961-), Guatemala (1952-54), Honduras (1973-), El Salvador (1980-), and the Dominican Republic (1961-). Even in Brazil, where colonization of frontier lands was substituted for true land reform until 1985, new initiatives have been taken to promote redistribution.