The eternal conflict: Land, peasants, and the military in Mexico

Abstract

Land has always been an important site of struggle in Mexico, often bringing peasant movements and peasant communities into conflicts with the Mexican military. This CMI Insight focuses on the key conflict dimensions since the Mexican revolution (1910-1917) and up till today. The analysis highlights how the relationship between peasants and the army has changed from one of tentative mutual understanding in the post-revolution period to one in which the army increasingly acts as an oppressive agent; on behalf of powerful interests within its own ranks at first, and then on behalf of the Mexican state and private economic interests.