Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
doned farms and housing that enabled them to cultivate crops for local
andregionalmarkets.However,thesubstitutecropsseldomgeneratedthe
incomethatexportbananashadproducedduringtheboomyears,leading
many people to migrate to active banana zones. Finally, for some resi-
dents, the end of the export banana trade indirectlycreated opportunities
for short-term profiteering and patronage via administrative structures
ostensiblycreatedtofacilitatelocalcontroloverabandonedresourcesand
infrastructure.
Although Omoa cannot be held up as a ''typical'' case of abandon-
ment, similar patterns unfolded in many North Coast communities fol-
lowing the cessation of export banana production. In August 1931, resi-
dentsof Mezapa(SantaRosadelNorte),asmallvillageinthemunicipality
of Tela, began ''creating di
culties'' for workers attempting to remove a
branch line operated by the Tela Railroad Company.
56
Shortly thereafter,
both the alcalde of Tela, Coronel Modesto Orellano, and Atlántida Gover-
nor Adolfo Miralda traveled to the village where they met with nearly 80
residents in order to resolve the matter. Governor Miralda read an ocial
statement from the Ministro de Gobernación, rearming both the Tela
RailroadCompany'srighttoremoveitsbranchlinesandthegovernment's
resolve ''to protect the rights of the company.''
57
He then acknowledged
the railroad's importance to the community but explained that he could
not compel the company to leave the line intact.
The villagers did not dispute the right of the company to remove the
track. Instead, they requested that the bridges over the Naranjo Riverand
several creeks be left in place in order to facilitate the movement of people
and animals during the rainy season.Theyalso called for the rebuilding of
a bridge over the Naranjo River that had been damaged by flood torrents.
Mezapa residents claimed that prior to the arrival of the company, the
NaranjoRivergenerally''wasdry''and''crossedwithgreatease.''However,
the Tela Railroad Company had rechanneled the river and created a net-
work of drainage ditches that combined the flows of several other creeks
intotheNaranjo.Asaresult,localsdescribedtheriverin1931as''verydeep
and dangerous,'' particularly during the rainy season when the swollen
waterwaycarried trees and otherdebris down stream. Finally, noting that
the fruit company piped potable water from the Mezapa River through
the village to its nearby labor camps, the residents requested that, as ''an
act of justice,'' four water spigots be installed for the community's use.
The following day, Mayor Orellano reported that the matter had been re-
solved to the satisfaction of all parties.
58
The residents of Mezapa agreed
to permit the removal of the railroad in return for the Governor's promise
