Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
their
criollo
tenants and rent out the parcels to
gringos
. However, the
hijosdelpaís,
or the “sons of the country,” were not entirely defenseless;
they did appeal to the governor of the province of Córdoba. “Mister
Governor,” they stated, “if this beautiful valley that deserves the value
that it has for the work of its native people, will pass to be the property
of only a few newcomers, this is how we, the sons of this country, are
ending up in worse conditions than the foreigner, who you called yes-
terday to cultivate our land; well today we are evicted from this land”
(Mora, 53). In the final analysis, the invasion of the
gringos
tended
to complete the displacement of the native-born
criollos
into lives of
migratory wage work, a process begun in the 18th century.
The number of small holdings also increased in Tucumán, although
this province had fewer immigrant settlers. In Mendoza, Italians gained
access to subdivided land through contracts to cultivate grapes. The
immigrant role in establishing
bodegas
(grape-pressing plants) and
developing vineyards enabled the wealthiest foreigners to join the local
oligarchy. Immigrants moved in as
contratistas,
who took charge of
employing and supervising the unskilled workers in the various tasks
of making wine. The local Mendoza oligarchy utilized these immigrant
middlemen to discipline “indolent” migrant workers. Land was being
subdivided in interior areas undergoing capitalist expansion, and after
the local gentry, foreigners appear to have benefited.
Nowhere is the evidence more conclusive than in Santa Fe, where
the railway stimulated intensive agricultural growth. In the north of
that province, foreigners began to acquire land in 1872 and estab-
lished family-based production of corn, flax, and peanuts. In the cen-
tral wheat-growing colonies of the province, there were indications
of social mobility among small- and middle-sized producers. The
incidence of landownership by producers themselves was greater in
the oldest agricultural colonies, while the newer ones were dominated
by renters and sharecroppers. Thus, the expanding wheat exports of
the late 19th century enabled renters to buy the land they worked.
In 1895, about 48 percent of farm families in Santa Fe owned their
own land, the national average being approximately 30 percent. This
rural middle class was composed of immigrant Italians, Germans,
and Swiss. The Argentines remained peons on the cattle ranches of
the elite.
But the story does not end with the differential sharing of wealth.
Social distinctions and ethnic discrimination engendered resentments
and rivalries that Argentine elites were able to utilize to maintain a
semblance of the old order in the face of economic change.
