Coffee in Nicaragua: Introduction and Expansion in the Nineteenth Century

Author(s): Craig S. Revels

Source: Yearbook. Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers, Vol. 26 (2000), pp. 17-28
Published by: University of Texas Press
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Coffee inNicaragua:
Introduction and Expansion in theNineteenth Century

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Craig S. Revels
Department ofGeography and Anthropology
Louisiana StateUniversity
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
U.S.A.

produced and traded internationally in the

ABSTRACT
nineteenthcentury (Roseberry 1995, Topik 1998).
Latin America, of course,was not to be leftout of
In the nineteenth
century, coffee transformed
thedevelopment of the internationalcoffee trade.
the economic, social, and political landscapes of
Central America. This paper examines the
Brazil began large-scale export production by the
introduction and expansion of coffee cultivation in late 1700s, and by themid-1800s commercial
Nicaragua in light of several key factors that coffee production had spreadfrom South America
conditioned its growth. From its earliest stages to to the Caribbean tomainland Middle America.
the development of its most important coffee The turn to coffee during this era was the
region, the North-Central Highlands, transport beginning of Latin America's coffee century, a
linkages and active government promotion were period inwhich coffee dramatically transformed
the most important elements facilitating the the economic, political, and social landscapes of
expansion of coffee cultivation in Nicaragua.
theNew World.
These conclusions allow Nicaragua's early coffee The newly independentrepublics ofCentral
economy to be placed in the context of coffee
America were well positioned to take advantage of
cultivation throughout the rest of the isthmus.
the increasing demand for coffee in theworld
economy. In addition to the rich volcanic soils,
cool highlands, and abundant rainfall ideal for
INTRODUCTION
growing coffee, political and commercial leaders
were well aware of the need to create stable
During the nineteenth century, coffee economic foundations for theirnew states. Much
became one of themost valuable commodities in
has been written about the Liberal reforms which
theworld. Coffee had reached Europe by the
sought to insertCentral America into themodern
1600s, and became wildly popular in the
world in the late nineteenth century, but itwas
eighteenth century. Led initially by Dutch under the earlierConservative regimes thatcoffee
planters, European mercantile interests began to
first became established (Woodward 1985).
fostercoffee production in the tropical colonies,
Initially introducedas just one of various attempts
especially in Java and theCaribbean, and by the to linkCentral America and theworld economy,
close of the eighteenthcenturycoffeewas grown
the high-quality coffee grown on the isthmus
throughoutthe tropicalworld (Wolf 1982, Topik
quickly became popular on theworld market. By
1998). Growing European and North American
the end of the century, Liberal regimes were
demand, advances in transportationtechnology,
and a burgeoning global commoditymarket led to expanding and intensifying the incentives and
dramatic increases in the amount of coffee export programs of theirConservative forebears,

Yearbook, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers, 2000, Vol. 26, pp. 17-28.
? Copyright 2000, Conference of Latin Americanist
Geographers._

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 18 CONFERENCE OF LATIN AMERICANIST GEOGRAPHERS
while improved external transportationmade
easier to produce for European
American markets (Woodward 1985, Topik
1998)1. Coffee assumed a position as one of the
region's leading exportsby theend of thecentury,
and itremains so today. In thenineteenthcentury
thedevelopment of coffee forexporthad profound
implications forCentral America. Yet our current
understanding of coffee's impacts and ramifica
tions throughoutthe region are incomplete,with
the bulk of previous academic research being
directed atGuatemala, Costa Rica and, toa certain
extent, El Salvador2.
In an attempt to expand the historical
perspective on coffee in Central America, this
paper focuses on Nicaragua, where the
foundations of the coffee economy are poorly
understood, largelybecause of extensive gaps in
thehistorical record. Specifically, thepurpose of
thispaper is to examine the early development of
coffee inNicaragua in the context of several key
factors that conditioned its introduction and
expansion. In so doing, I address some of the
most basic and enduringquestions concerning the
earlyNicaraguan coffee economy:Where was it
introducedandwhy? What accounts for therapid
spread of cultivation in the late nineteenth
century? How did themajor growing regions
develop? Exactly what role does coffee play in
the historical geography of Nicaragua? To
address these questions, thispaper traces coffee
from its introduction to the creation of what is
currentlyNicaragua's prized coffee region, the
North-Central Highlands. A brief overview of
Nicaragua's first coffee region, the Southern
Uplands, provides context for investigating the
development of theHighlands. I then trace the
expansion of coffee throughouttheHighlands via
a discussion of its previous economic develop
ment, transportation linkages, governmental
influences, and land, labor, and capital arrange
ments to reach conclusions concerning theprocess
of regional transformation in post-colonial
Nicaragua.
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it THE INTRODUCTION OF COFFEE INTO
and North NICARAGUA
Commercial coffeeproductionwas already
well established in Guatemala and Costa Rica
before itbegan inNicaragua. Though the exact
nature and timing is subject to some debate, most
accounts attribute its introduction toDr. Manual
Matus Torres, a resident of Jinotepe in south
western Nicaragua (Radell 1969). Matus learned
about coffeewhile studyingas amedical student in
Costa Rica, and upon his returntoNicaragua one
of his fellow students senthim a gift comprised of
two coffee seedlings and some coffeebeans; Matus
subsequently planted the seedlings in a private
garden sometime during the 1820s (Levy 1873,
Radell 1969, Lanuza 1976). Other than thisdate,
few facts concerning the introductionof coffee are
known, particularlywhen itbecame the focus of
commercial development. Edelman (1864)
referredto coffeepromotion at the local level in the
1840s, and Lanuza (1976) cites official
correspondence to thiseffectaswell. United States
envoy George Ephraim Squier documented
extensive coffeegroves in theSierras deManagua
in 1849 (Squier 1852). The gap between Matus'
planting and these early observations is
a
approximately fifteenyears, period forwhich the
historical record is apparently non-existent,
hindering any indepthunderstanding of coffee's
earliest period inNicaragua.
EARLY CULTIVATION:
THE SOUTHERN UPLANDS
coffee was first introduced and
That
commercially grown in the areas surrounding
Jinotepe and the Sierras de Managua is not
surprising.This region, stretchingsouthwestfrom
the Managua-Granada axis to the plateaus near
Jinotepe (Figure 1), was themost agriculturally
developed region in Nicaragua before coffee's
introduction,and has historically been at or near
the center of Nicaraguan political, social, and
economic power. Though Nicaragua was more or
less a stagnant backwater of colonial Central
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 REVELS 19

Figure 1. Southwestern Nicaragua

America, theUplands had a strong subsistence colonial development schemes such as coffee.

base, played a role in thedyestuffand cacao trade, The growth of coffee production in the
and was integrated into the internal Central Uplands was materially aided by active
American cattle trade (Levy 1873,Radell 1969). government promotion. The local effortsof the
Largely as a result of this economic activity, 1840s were supplemented with national
transportation linkages in theUplands, though legislation. Owners of larger coffee farms were

poor, were some of the best in Nicaragua in the granted exemptions from military service, tax
earlyandmiddle nineteenthcentury(Squier 1852, subsidies, and import substitution credits.
Lanuza 1983). Semi-improved cart roads Government subsidies also provided coffee
(carretas) linked theUplands toGranada, Man seedlings at cost, facilitated the transferof land to
agua, and Nicaraguan ports, but were not coffee production, and even granted cash awards
extensive enough to provide efficient or to growers (Lanuza 1976, Burns 1991). The
inexpensive transport (Radell 1964). Proximal construction of railroads in the late nineteenth
relations toNicaraguan political power structures century also helped to consolidate the coffee
(virtuallysynonymouswith thearea's landowning economy of the Uplands, and reinforced the
elite) ensured that commercial interests in the importance of foreign capital and government
Uplands were able to capitalize on early post involvement in the trade (Williams 1994). The

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 20 CONFERENCE OF LATIN AMERICANIST GEOGRAPHERS
main line was built outward from the north
western port of Corinto in 1878, reaching
Momotombo, on Lago de Managua, in 1886. A
steamship line from this point to Managua
lowered transport costs and provided quicker
transitfor coffee from the Sierras de Managua
(Radell 1964). In the late 1890s rail linkswere
completed between Masaya and Jinotepe, and
fromJinotepe and Diriamba toManagua, but the
final rail linkbetweenManagua and Corinto was
not constructeduntil 1903 (Radell 1964, Charlip
1995).
Initially stimulatedby Cornelius Vander
bilt's steamship line across Lago de Nicaragua
and then the close of theNational War in 1859,
coffee production expanded rapidly throughout
theUplands, and by themid-1860s Nicaragua had
begun exporting coffee to the world market
(Bureau 1892, Radell 1964). The Uplands was
not only the firstofNicaragua's coffee regions,
but itremained themost productive and important
through the remainder of thenineteenth century
(Bureau 1892,Niederlein 1898). The success of
coffee production in the SouthernUplands was
also the impetus for expanding the coffee
economy, primarily into the fertile,undeveloped
area known as the North-Central Highlands.
EXPANDING CULTIVATION:
THE NORTH-CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
Nicaragua's North-Central Highlands
rangefrom just southofMatagalpa, throughEsteli
to the Honduran border, and northeastward
throughthecordillera (Figure 2). This mountain
ous region is themost favorable physical environ
ment inNicaragua for cultivating coffee,which
has historically resulted inmore favorablemarket
prices for Highland coffee. Although some
accounts cite coffee growing in theHighlands as
early as the 1850s (Scherzer 1857), widespread
commercial production did not begin until the
early 1870s (Levy 1873, Bureau 1892). Like the
Southern Uplands, the early coffee economy of
theHighlands is best understood in lightof the
conditions and processes framingthe introduction
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and expansion of commercial cultivation through
the early twentieth century.
Pre-Coffee Economic Development
Prior to the introduction of coffee, the
Highlands was an almost entirely undeveloped
frontierregion. At contact, indigenous groups
engaged in shiftingagriculture and rudimentary
tradepopulated theHighlands. Of these groups,
theMatagalpa accounted for themajority of the
estimated three to fourhundred thousand people
living in theCentral Highlands (Newson 1987).
Spanish interestfocused on gold and silver, but
meager early returnsdiscouraged intenseexploita
tion of theHighlands. Indigenous resistance to
Spanish control, usually in the form of armed
attacks on Spanish settlements,also discouraged
agricultural development in the rich alluvial
valleys of the region. Distance from the Leon
Chinandega cattle complex and rugged terrain
also kept the Highlands isolated through the
colonial era and into the nineteenth century,
although Scherzer (1857) reported cattle ranches
in the bottomlands surrounding Jinotega and
Matagalpa. Mining resumed in the nineteenth
century, but was neither extensive nor lucrative
enough to significantly develop the region
(Scherzer 1857, Denevan 1961). Despite nearly
two centuries of Spanish control, theHighlands
effectively remained a region of predominately
subsistence agriculture, isolated from the
commercial and political power structures of
Nicaragua.
Transportation
Given its isolation and
general
it is not
underdevelopment, surprising that
transportation was also seriously deficient in the
Highlands. Nicaragua's most developed trans
portation linkages were in the lowland plain
between Granada and Leon (Lanuza 1983). In the
Highlands, transportationroutes consisted of a
series of unimproved mule trails and footpaths,
meaning that transportwas both inefficientand
expensive. During the rainy season most mule
trails simply became impassable (Radell 1964).
 REVELS 21

Figure 2. The North-Central Highlands

The only significant transportation linkage to introduction of a steam powered trackless

Nicaragua's economic heartland was
kilometermule trailfromMatagalpa to Leon, a
trailusually difficult to traverse (Radell 1969).
Through the end of the nineteenth century this
trailwas theonlymeans of transportinggoods to
an external market. Owing largely to the
constraints of regional transport, most coffee was
introduced in close proximity to the towns of
JinotegaandMatagalpa (Radell 1969).
By the 1890s railroad construction had
commenced inNicaragua, but theHighlands was
excluded, most likely due to the region's
imposing terrain and general isolation from
Nicaragua's commercial hubs. In theearly 1900s
local growers seized the initiativeand attempted
to improve transportationon theirown terms.The
mule trail to Leon was improved for the
a 184 was quickly abandoned
locomotive, but theeffort
after difficulties with water supplies and the
terrain proved insurmountable (Radell 1964).
Though the trackless rail line proved to be
unsuccessful, the mule trail was eventually
converted into a carreta road, increasing the
amount of productswhich could be shipped at one
time and significantly reducing transportcosts
from theHighlands. This route remained theonly
commercial linkbetween theHighlands and the
rest of Nicaragua until well into the twentieth
century,thus transportationdifficultiescontinued
to be a major obstacle to expanding coffee
production throughoutthisperiod.
Government Promotion
Aggressive attempts by theNicaraguan

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 22 CONFERENCE OF LATIN AMERICANIST GEOGRAPHERS
government to expand coffee growing served in
many ways to counteract the dearth of effective
transportnetworks in theHighlands. The state
had been actively involved in the promotion of
coffee since the early 1840s (Edelman 1864), but
under the regime of Enrique Carazo in the 1870s
development of theHighlands became a major
focus of theNicaraguan government. One of the
primaryavenues chosen was to stimulate foreign
immigration to the region. In 1875 foreigners
were allowed to retain their native citizenship
even if they became landholders inNicaragua.
The nominally vacant tierras baldias were given
away inparcels up to 350 manzanas3 in size, and
foreign landholderswere exemptedfromproperty
taxes and military service (Bureau 1892). The
Nicaraguan government also introduced coffee
subsidies in an attempt to stimulate increased
cultivation. An initial subsidy in 1879 and an
additional one in 1889 were both targeted at
growers in the northern departments of Nueva
Segovia, Chontales, Matagalpa, and Jinotega
(Bureau 1892, Niederlein 1898). These laws
provided five cents per coffee tree to any grower
willing to plant at least 5,000 trees. The 1889
subsidy was also linked to an expansion of the
landgiveaway program, increasing the lot size to
500manzanas in exchange fora pledge toplant at
least 25,000 trees (Bureau 1892, Delgado 1973).
Generally, these measures were successful,
attracting numerous immigrants from Germany,
Great Britain, and theUnited States. This influx
of foreigners,many ofwhom came with sizeable
capital, initiated the formation of large-scale
coffee estates in theHighlands (Niederlein 1898,
Radell 1969).
Though foreignerswere theprimary target
of government promotion, native Nicaraguans
were not entirely forgotten in theprocess either.
Cash premiums formeeting coffee export quotas
were established in 1877, and the subsidies of
1879 and 1889were also available fornationals as
well as foreigners (Bureau 1892). In the late
1890s and early 1900s these subsidies encouraged
a substantial number ofNicaraguans to settle in
theHighlands. By the 1909 coffee census several
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new townshad been established east and northeast
ofMatagalpa and Jinotega,expanding the frontier
boundary (Denevan 1961). The conscious efforts
of successive government regimes not only
stimulated settlement in theHighlands, but also
proved vital to its emergence as a coffee zone.
Government initiativebrought substantialparcels
of land under cultivation, enticed foreign
settlement(and the capital thatcame with it) and
helped nudge the region's economy from
subsistence agriculture to an externally focused
coffee zone.
Land Tenure and Access
The introductionand expansion of coffee
inNicaragua was necessarily predicated on land
availability, typesof land tenure,and landholding
size. In nineteenth-century Nicaragua land was
considered to be so freely available that itwas
almost considered ludicrous to actually purchase
property,especially outside of themore densely
settledPacific lowlands (Dunlop 1847)4. By mid
century, low population density and an open
frontier to thenorth and east combined to ensure
that landwas abundantly available in theHigh
lands to anyone willing to settle and claim it
(Levy 1873,Denevan 1961).
The primary exception to this rule was
indigenous land. As long-term occupants com
prising an absolute majority of the Highlands
population, indigenous peoples occupied most of
the best agricultural land in the region. Once
coffee promotion began in the 1870s, the
Nicaraguan government sought to appropriate
indigenous lands throughtaxation, land auctions,
or even outrightconfiscation. Armed suppression
of indigenous resistance in the 1880s led to further
dispersal of communal lands and forced many
natives to the agriculturalfrontier (Radell 1969,
Paige 1997). The government's ability to seize
and control indigenous landswas one of thekey
factors thatdrew settlers and investors into the
region in the late 1880s and early 1890s.
These new settlersdramatically changed
the landholding patterns of the Highlands.
Whereas previous land ownership had been in the

form of communal indigenous lands or vacant
government lands, private ownership quickly
became the standard. Between 1889-1891 nearly
24,000 manzanas of landwere privatized in the
Department of Matagalpa alone, and the
indigenousMatagalpa community lost over ten
percent of their land between 1895 and 1911,
primarily to new or expanding coffee farms
(Gould 1994). The continued expansion of the
agricultural frontier during this period also
indicatesan ongoing privatization of landholding.
Incomplete and nonexistent land records
make itdifficultto assess thisprocess, yet abroad
picture of landholding sizes in theHighlands can
be constructed. Before the development of the
coffee economy, land was generally concentrated
in large blocks, either as indigenous communal
propertyor nominally owned by the state. By the
1909 coffee census, coffee had become the
dominant featureof agriculture in theHighlands
and landholding had assumed a completely
differentcharacter.Minifundios and small farms
dominated thecoffee lands inNueva Segovia and
Esteli, but were less than half of the total in
Matagalpa and Jinotega (Williams 1994). Given
that the lattertwo departmentswere the focus of
the earliest and most intense efforts to entice
foreigners to cultivate coffee, it is not surprising
that medium and large-scale farms were more
prevalent. If not for the continual outward
pressure of smallholders on the agricultural
frontier the percentage have been even
might
higher. Thus itappears thatboth large and small
landholderswere involved in the spread of coffee
in theHighlands, with both groups being involved
in a continuous process of land privatization as
well as marginalization of indigenous groups.
Finance
Though landwas more or less freelyavail
able innineteenth-centuryNicaragua, securing the
capital or credit to switch to coffee was more
problematic. Commercial banking institutions
were nearly non-existent, and private lending
often resulted in onerous lending terms. One of
themost commonmeans of obtaining capitalwas
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REVELS 23
through short-termloans offered in advance of
upcoming harvests,generally securedfromprivate
citizens. Specific property financing arrange
ments were developed specifically for the coffee
economy, most notably the pactos de retroventa.
This was a returnsale process whereby a farmer
would sell his land and then lease itback from the
buyer for a specified period, eventually
repurchasing the land at a laterdate. Though this
was a risky form of obtaining capital, itwas
popular because itprovided longer-termfinancing
than traditional short-term crop advances. Despite
ensuring that smaller growerswould continue to
have access to land in themain coffee areas, the
retroventa also increased the concentration of
capital in thehands of thewealthiest growers and
processors (Williams 1994, Charlip 1995).
Foreign capital also played amajor role in
thedeveloping coffee economy of theHighlands.
Most foreign immigrantsto the region came with
sums ranging fromfive to twenty-fivethousand
dollars (Radell 1969). With the Nicaraguan
government reducing the costs of cultivation,
foreignerswere free touse theircapital todevelop
large-scale coffee estates and hire thewage labor
necessary towork them. Of the twelve coffee
estateswith more than 100,000 trees listed in the
1909 coffee census forMatagalpa and Jinotega,
tenwere owned by individualswith non-Spanish
surnames (Williams 1994). Foreign capital was
also most likely crucial for thecreation of theall
important coffee beneficios. Though many
aspects of finance and capital are
Nicaraguan
unknown or incomplete, it appears to be a safe
assumption that foreign capital was crucial, and
thatenough lending sources existed forboth small
and large landholders to shiftto growing coffee.
Labor and Population
The transformation of the agricultural
complex in the North-Central Highlands was
directly affected by labor and population
concerns. Though population data fornineteenth
centuryNicaragua can be highly inaccurate and
oftenmisleading, by themid-1800s thenorthern
departments of Nueva Segovia and Matagalpa
24 CONFERENCE OF LATIN AMERICANIST GEOGRAPHERS

Figure 3. Areas of Coffee Production in theNorth-Central Highlands, ca. 1900s.

contained approximately 20 percent of Nicar more than a dozen laws had been passed
agua's 250,000 inhabitants (Levy 1873). The specifically binding agriculturalworkers to labor
majority of the northern population clustered contracts or specific farms. Agricultural justices
around theprincipal towns, especiallyMatagalpa were established to control the labor situation,
and Jinotega. In relative numbers, the available vested with progressively broader powers of
supply of agricultural labor in theHighlands was arrest, the ability to levy fines, and even
small, constricting early coffee production to extradition (Delgado 1973, Lanuza 1983). Public
small andmedium size farms (those less than200 works projects were also used as a means of

manzanas), where family labor and minimal
amounts of wage laborwere the rule (Williams
1994). Many of the Europeans and North
Americans visiting Nicaragua in the nineteenth
centurypointed to its overwhelming shortage of
capable agriculturalworkers (Lanuza 1976).
Addressing this shortage became one of
thechief aims of governmental effortsto stimulate
theNicaraguan coffee economy. By the 1880s
punishment forworkers avoiding the obligations
of agricultural labor contracts (Charlip 1995).
Distance from the central state structure in
Managua and the open frontier to the east and
northeast diminished the effectiveness of these
labor controls until the 1890s. The indigenous
groups of the Highlands, among the most
concentrated and populous in Nicaragua at the
time (Scherzer 1857, Levy 1873), also provided

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 REVELS 25

strong resistance to labor regulations. As the Table 1. Nicaraguan Coffee Exports, 1864-1909

largestpool of available labor in theHighlands, Year Amount Year Amount Exported

|
these groups were the frequent targets of Exported (lbs) (lbs)
government enforcementefforts,and the issue of 1864 90,300 1887 6,847,000
forced labor became the flashpoint for a whole 1867 435,000 1888 8,816,600
range of indigenous grievances against the state. 1871 1889
1,234,000 8,414,500
Armed rebellion erupted in 1881, prompting the
1879 3,529,000 1890 11,382,000
Nicaraguan military to occupy the Highlands
1880 1891
throughthedecade (Gould 1994)5. 4,528,300 9,154,000
In the 1890s the Liberal dictator Jose 1881 4,698,200 1894 14,355,702
Santos Zelaya initiated aggressive measures to 1882 7,328,300 1897 12,782,600
solveNicaraguan laborproblems. These included 1883 1903
5,548,100 18,173,900
a national identitycard, new vagrancy lawswith
1884 7,238,400 1905 19,876,000
military service as punishment, and increased
numbers and power for the agricultural justices 1885 7,052,500 1907 18,546,500

(Teplitz 1973). Nevertheless, the Highlands 1886 7,253,100 1909 18,350,000

remained problematic, as evidenced by a turn-of Source: Bureau (1892), Charlip (1995), Lanuza (1983),
Niederlein(1898),Radell (1969)
the-centurysurvey of coffee farms inMatagalpa
showing thatnearly 25 percent of laborers had
abandoned theirobligations (Teplitz 1973). Labor
would continue to be an issue in theHighlands
Table 2. Coffee Production, 1884-1909
well into the twentieth century, despite the
region's increasing population, control of native Years Nicaragua Central Nicaragua

(lbs) America as % of
resistance to state power, and the continuing
(lbs) Total
growth of the coffee sector.
1884-1889 9,260,000 94,313,000 9.8

CONCLUSIONS
1889-1894 12,611,000 123,163,000 10.2

By 1871 coffee accounted fornearly nine 1894-1899 9,039,000 125,046,000 7.2

percent ofNicaragua's totalexports (Levy 1873), 1899-1904 18,519,000 172,050,000 10.8

andwas increasing on an annual basis (Table 1).
Though the Southern Uplands accounted for 1904-1909 17,857,000 194,572,000 9.2

nearly all of the initial export production, Source: Torres (1993)

expanding cultivation in the North-Central

Highlands during the late 1870s and 1880s
solidifiedNicaragua's role in the still-expanding
Central American coffee economy (Table 2). By
1892 commercial production in theHighlands had
been underway for less than two decades, but had
already progressed to thepoint that itaccounted
fornearly twentypercent ofNicaragua's annual
total (Bureau 1892). When thefirstcoffee census
was conducted in 1909, coffee had expanded
throughout the Highlands (Figure 3), and
accounted for nearly one-third of total national
production (Williams 1994, Charlip
Clearly, coffee was a dynamic economic sector at
thedawn of the twentiethcentury.
This study strongly suggests that
transportation(or lack thereof) and government
involvementwere the twomost importantfactors
affectingthe introduction,growth, and expansion
of coffee inNicaragua. This certainlyholds true
for theNorth-Central Highlands, which was a
stagnant economic backwater before the
government took an active role in itsdevelopment
and which grew despite poor transportation
1995). linkages to external markets. It is also worth

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26 CONFERENCE OF LATINAMERICANIST GEOGRAPHERS

noting thatthese factorsheld truefor theSouthern Nicaragua be more fully considered in the
Uplands. With thebest transportationlinkages in ongoing dialogue concerning thedevelopment of
Nicaragua and close tiesbetween its largegrowers coffee in Central America and the world
and early governmentpromotional efforts,itwas economy.
almost inevitable thattheUplands would assume
a dominantposition in theearlyNicaraguan coffee NOTES
economy6.
1. One of thebest recent overviews of Liberalism inLatin
These conclusions hold true in the larger
America and its impacts on the export economy can be
taleof coffee inCentral America. Throughout the
found inTopik andWells (1998). Woodward (1985) also
isthmus,government legislation and development extensively discusses the growth and implications of
effortswere the primary stimuli to increasing Liberalism inCentral America.
coffee production. Costa Rica, one the region's 2. Some of thebest examples include Seligson (1975), Hall
(1976), and Gudmundson (1986) on Costa Rica, Cambranes
poorest state at the end of the colonial era,was
transformed into one of its most progressive (1985) on Guatemala, and Browning (1971) and Lindo
Fuentes (1990) on El Salvador.
largely throughactive government promotion of 3. A manzana is approximately equal to 1.73 acres.
coffee and the infrastructuretomove it tomarkets 4. Admittedly, all land was not equally valuable or
(Hall 1976). Sources of labor towork the coffee desirable. Williams (1994) outlines some of the issues
estates were only guaranteed after national related to land acquisition, including literacy,wealth, and

governments instituted strict vagrancy laws,

use.
previous
5. Gould (1994) is also thebest treatmentof the indigenous
contract and enforcement measures.
regulations,
perspective in theHighlands throughout thedevelopment of
Foreign participation in all aspects of the coffee coffee production.
trade, as in Guatemala, was encouraged by 6. A detailed treatmentof the importance of transportation
government subsidies, tax policies, and in the Southern Uplands can be found inRadell (1964) as
well as Lanuza (1976). Political and commercial linkages
immigrationpolicies. Even the role of foreign
are best addressed inLanuza (1976, 1983).
capital in developing the coffee economy can be
seen as a key focus of government-led effortsto
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