1995-10-01a- CIA Conference Report: THE CHALLENGE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER IN THE 1990S GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES 01-Oct-95

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The Impact of Resource Development
The expansion of national culturesfrom the core to As might be expected, governments have not
peripheralareas is a direct prbduct of the increased attempted to solve the "Indianproblem" by dealing
demandfor landand resources,and this, in turn, often with the root causesthat are noted above. Rather; they
reflects nationalpolicies that govern the distribution have responded to pressure groups by passing legisla-
of resources in the previously developed core areas. tion that is unenforced or by buying off the groups or
Colonizationof the "empty" peripheryoften is viewed their leaders in other ways. Examples are minimalist
by nationalpolicymakers as a way of relieving pres- land reform legislationor creation of largely unpro-
sure for redistributionof land in the older core, where tected national parks, reserves, or dedicated Indian
a combinationof concentrationof land in the handsof territories.If these time-tested Latin American strate-
the elite, rapidpopulation increase in rural areas, giesfail to work, heavier-handedapproachesmay be
degradationofpeasant-controlledland through ero- attempted, such as calling in the army or police; but
sion and decliningfertility, and lack of employment these strategiesare resorted to less and less because
opportunities contributesto substantial land hunger. of their negative consequences, both internallyand on
Moreover,wealthy and influential members of the rul- the country's international standing.Mexico's rela-
ing elites, along with members of the military or rep- tively benign treatment of the Zapatista NationalLib-
resentatives of internationalenterprises,often erationArmy, at least until February1995, is a good
promote colonizationas a means ofobtaining large example of how international opinion can affect gov-
blocks of land.Mineral resource development, espe- ernment response to dissident groups.
cially that relatedto high-value commodities such as
oil and gold, is another cause of conflict. Frequently, In Brazil, the tendencies to expand development into
mineral resource development is linked to multina- the Amazon Basin have been stimulated by the gov-
tional enterprisessuch as oil Companies or interna- ernment's expansionistdevelopment policies. Since
tional mining concerns. These developments may also colonial times Brazil has aggressively extended its
have internationallinks through organizationssuch as politicalfrontiers at the expense of all its neighbors.
OPEC,the LatinAmerican FreeTrade Association, or More recently, a nationalpolicy of building roads into
the Andean Pact. the interiorand clearing the tropicalforestforfarm-
ing and ranching, which was fostered in part by the
Invariably, development of tropicallowland areas is geopoliticalstrategiesofsome military officers, has
seen as favorable to nationaland international inter- led to large-scaledevelopment of that country's Ama-
ests, and maintenance of land in an "undeveloped" zon lands. When Brazil builds roadand colonizes near
state is viewed as wasteful, even if it provides suste- itspoliticalfrontiers, it triggersa counterresponseby
'nancefor native populations thathave lived therefor neighboringAmazon Basin countries such as Peru,
centuries ormillennia. Conservationinterests lobby for Colombia, and Venezuela, which build roadsof their
slow-growth or no-growth policiesbut to little avail. own and encourage colonizationofformerly undevel-
Even when areas are set aside in parks or reserves, oped lowland tropicalforests to counter what is seen
effective provisionsforprotecting them arelacking, and as a possible Brazilian threat to nationalsovereignty.
the allocationof large blocks of land to Indian commu- Ecuadorhas embarked upon a similar policy of set-
nities may create a backlash amyong landless or land tling its Amazon lowlands with highlandersin
hungrypeasants and members of the urban working response to a longstanding border dispute with Peru.
classes, who fail to understandthe reasonsfor giving so It remains to be seen how the flare-up offighting in
much land to sofew people. Often these protests are early 1995 will affect these policies.
supportedby members of the upper and middle classes
who oppose the removal of large blocks of landfrom
accessfor large-scaledevelopment.
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