In 1980, government surveyors visited the village of El Zapote in Honduras. They promised the farmers a certificate of ownership for their land. Joy turned to bewilderment when the farmers later heard that they would have to pay for the certificate. And this was despite the fact that the farmers had inherited the land from their fathers or had even purchased it from others.
The central government in Honduras had handed over the land for communal use to the local authorities more than 100 years previously. By means of legislation, these received the right to temporarily lend the land to the inhabitants. After several generations the farmers regarded the land they farmed as their own, and some sold parts of their land to others. In 1982, the central government demanded back the rights to the land on the strength of a new agricultural law.
Esther Rocquas blames contradictions in various laws for the conflicts. The farmers can appeal to ownership concepts from civil law to justify their claims to the ground. However, the agricultural legislation from 1982, clearly states that the ground is the property of the central government. Legal conflicts easily arise if the legislation contains such contradictions.
Inconsistent legislation often occurs in Latin America. The reason for this is that new legislation is not always carefully linked to older legislation. In Honduras the laws relating to land ownership have degenerated into an accumulation of contradictory laws.
In addition to the problems caused by the accumulated legislation, there are also conflicts which arise because traditional rules are in conflict with the official law. For example, local tradition prescribes that the ground is passed down from father to youngest son, a custom that originally dates from the Spanish colonial period. According to current legislation, all sons are equal and officially daughters also have equal rights. As soon as children demand their inheritance, many families are torn apart by conflicts.
Land conflicts are very common in Honduras. They are visible as destroyed fences, stolen crops, horses let loose, poisoned dogs, bloody fights with machetes, children who throw stones at each other and even murder and manslaughter.
For further information please contact Esther Roquas (Law and Governance Group, Wageningen University), tel. +31 (0) 317 484334 (work) or +31 (0) 317 412522 (home), fax +31 (0)317 485452, e-mail: esther.roquas@alg.ar.wau.nl Esther Roquas defended her doctoral thesis on 12 February 2002. Her supervisor was Prof. F. von Benda Beckmann.
The research was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).