Sisal in the Yucatan Peninsula
Sisal
was grown on large estates (or haciendas)
in the northern part of the Yucatan peninsula. The maguey cactus grows throughout the tropics
around the world. Industrial machinery from Europe allowed the cactus to be
stripped on an industrial scale. For forty years immense fortunes were made
by the Spanish-descendent land owners who exploited the Mayan Indians who
worked on these estates. After the Mexican revolution, in the 1920s, the nationalization and
redistribution of land sisal haciendas began their decline. Until the early
1970s, many haciendas were stilling producing sisal -- was my first trip to
the Yucatan. By 2004, only a little sisal is still being produced for the
handicraft market. Today, Brazil, Kenya, Tanzania,
and Madagascar continue to be significant exporters of sisal.Optional:
1) Visit the web site of
Hacienda
Yaxcopoil.
2) Many former haciendas
are now for sale as hotels or private homes:
check out the photos
by one realtor.
Land reform in Mexico, as elsewhere, eliminated or decreased the importance of the historic landed gentry and replaced them with capitalist farmers while the peasants, even if they received some land, in the form of ejoidos in Mexico, were left behind.
