ABSTRACT
This chapter explains one basic issue: the way that the Salinas regime's apparent "audacity" on the question of ejido reform was accompanied by a less decisive approach to agricultural policy as a whole. As Zendejas Romeroand Gail Mummert observe, in some local contexts the ejido is much more than an economic institution, and may have a social and political value to people who are not themselves ejidatarios. Given that 67% of the maize grown by the social sector is marketed even in Chiapas, PROCAMPO's ability to halt rural impoverishment should clearly not be exaggerated. There are therefore ample reasons for being skeptical about the kinds of claims made for PROCAMPO as a social and environmental policy. Under Salinas, however, Mexico has combined a heavily politicized form of state intervention with deregulation in a way which may well ensure the worst of both worlds: high social costs and little strategic economic direction.
