In contrast to most Latin American countries with high land concentration, 1 Guatemala has been unwilling to consider re-distributive agrarian reform.2 One alternative proposed, therefore, for improving access to land for the rural poor is to make the land market more accessible. The following sections will describe Guatemala’s agrarian structure and land market, and assess the various land market programs implemented in Guatemala since the 1950s, focusing mainly on those undertaken in the 1980s and 90s.
Dr.NievesZúñiga
Nieves Zúñiga is Land Portal’s Country Research and Engagement Consultant for Latin America. She has more than 15 years of experience as qualitative researcher on governance including fieldwork in Latin America and Africa. Nieves worked on land corruption, among other topics, for Transparency International Secretariat, and on anti-corruption policies during her post-doc at the University of Nottingham. She received her MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of Essex, in the UK. For many years she worked on indigenous rights and demands regarding land and recognition mainly in Latin America. Nieves has a background in journalism. Currently she works as a consultant for a variety of organisations and institutions.