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Copyright of Relaciones: Estudios de Historia y Sociedad is the property of El Colegio de Michoacan, A.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The conflicts associated with land tenure inequality in Colombia trace their origins to the first half of the 19th century when the culmination of the wars of independence from Spain left the finances of the new republics in deficit. In search of solutions to mitigate external debt and cover the salary expenses of the new public employees, these republics formulated the allocation of land titles as a strategy for payment and cushioning economic shortages. The unequal and precarious land distribution was not only caused by the post-independence land allocation, which was done for various reasons: payment of fees to military personnel, to civilians linked to the national treasury, payment to populate the territory, which went hand in hand with economic activities that incentivized settlement, as well as the construction of roads and various civil works necessary for settlement and the development of economic activities; payment to settle both external and internal public debt. It is crucial to understand the history and causes that triggered the land crisis in the national territory, since, without addressing the different issues from a knowledgeable perspective, any current or future reform proposed to redistribute land tenure in the country would be destined to fail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]