Impact Of Coffee On The Economy
Coffee the Great Miracle There is a product that has allowed Central American countries to develop and grow. That product is coffee, it has had a major effect on the economy of central american countries. It has affected the lives of many of the citizens that live on these countries, and it has led to the modernization of these nations. Those who grew coffee and had plantations had all the power it managed to make a new kind of ruling elite. Coffee has propelled these countries from being some of the poorest in the world to being some of the most progressive in the world. This agricultural product allowed Central American countries to enter the world market affecting their economy, affected the lives of the lower class citizens, made new ruling
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elites, and drove these countries into modernity. The introduction of coffee had a big effect on the lives of the people living in central america. The indians and mestizos lost their lands to private owner ship as stated in the article the 1932 rebellion of el Salvador. They suffered under new laws that came into place by the government that wanted to expand coffee plantations, so they needed more land. They passed a law that abolished community owned lands to private ownership. In Costa Rica the government ordered the distribution of uncultivated lands. Land for coffee cultivation was distributed which had far reaching effects. However, the working conditions in these coffee plantations ended up being very horrible. First they lose their land and now even when they work on these plantations they get ugly working conditions. Take El Salvador for example there are usually one hundred and fifty workers but when in picking season there are as many as five hundred. This includes women and children of fifteen and up. “Coffee is quite generally picked by women and girls, who receive a fixed sum per measure”(coffee cultivation and production 701). They work ten hours a day and only get paid twenty five cents a day. “for which they are paid 25c a day local money”(El Salvador Rebellion). They do not get paid by the hour but by the day and that was in local currency. Many of the workers take their children to work the filed because they need them in order to meet their quota if not they do not get paid. The twenty five cents would translate to twelve cents in American currency. The workers would only get a handful of beans to eat and would get a few tortillas to eat. That would all cost about 1 cent in total. Most of the population of El Salvador was indian and contributed the most to coffee production, yet El Salvador was trying to erase them. Many of the workers would work in ugly, and filthy conditions. The housing conditions for those who live on the plantation with their families are horrible. There are many large one room warehouses where forty to sixty people live with their families. There is little privacy or security for the people who live there. Especially for women who stay on the plantations there are many instances of rape that occur because there is not type of security in place. The employers did not care about them at all, they worked in conditions that were similar to slavery. All this was to make more coffee and also to save the most money that they could. Guatemala actually has made workers work overtime without pay and that is in violation of their labor laws. There is also the issue of pesticides that are being used, they contaminate the water supply putting at risk the workers who drink the water. While also can fatally harm the workers who work with these chemicals. The lack of proper equipment and training puts these workers health in risk, even with the proper training applying pesticides can cause harmful effects to the worker. Some of the worker would even have to bring their own machetes. The plantation owners would actually make a profit of about one hundred thousand dollars a season and the labor for the season was about 2000 local currency. This demonstrates that there is more than enough money to justify giving better working conditions to the workers and proper equipment. In Nicaragua there were actually vagrancy laws passed that would punish anyone hat was not working. This essentially made it possible to get work for free because the employers did not have to pay the worker. They could just tell the worker to go away but the worker would not be able to leave because he needed to work if he did not want to get punished. This was the same in other Central American countries, they all viewed the workers as unimportant. All that mattered was being able to produce coffee at the lowest cost possible. They wanted high profit but low cost to produce and so the governments made laws that would help the plantation owners actually accomplish this. Furthermore, coffee had great effects on the economy of Central American countries as well. The effect that coffee had on their economy was grand, they were able to enter the world market.
They were able to modernize themselves and move forward. “Costa Rica, one of the region's poorest states at end of colonial era”(Coffee in Nicaragua 26). Costa Rica benefited a lot from coffee because it allowed it to progress from one of the poorest states to one of the most progressive. They did this by promoting coffee and making moves to enter the world market. In order to transport coffee these countries needed to modernize, they built new roads, railroads, and new ports all for the transportation of coffee. The roads that were built are hard surfaced and they are helpful because they can be used by people other than the coffee growers. The railroads were also useful for the transportation of coffee, of course the governments had to pay for them to be built. The coffee plantation owners would strong arm them to get them built if they wanted their business. The most used type of transportation was the ports, so getting them built was very important mostly by the pacific. The ports of the pacific were used more than the ones in the Caribbean. “ the first railroads, telephones, and other communications were constructed in the country”(The liberal republic 16). These three thing helped modernize these central American countries by bringing in income. In Nicaragua coffee accounted for at least 9 percent of total exports. That state was a big help in promoting coffee and foreign …show more content…
immigration to Nicaragua they wanted to get as many people to Nicaragua and buy land and produce coffee. Especially in areas that were low in transportation networks. This was their way of trying to minimize the amount of money they lost because of bad transportation networks in remote areas. This ended up bringing people from Germany, Great Britain, and United States. With them came big capital and resulted in the large coffee estates being built in the highlands which made them even more money (coffee in Nicaragua ). “Export statistics show that 90 percent of the total value of Salvador's export is coffee”(Coffee industry 62). While in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica the total value of export that is coffee is eighty four for Guatemala, fifty three for Nicaragua, and fifty two for Costa Rica. All these countries depend on coffee for more than half of their trade especially Guatemala. However, coffee has had also a big effect on the ruling classes of Central America. If you had a coffee plantation that made you a person of high standing because you were considered a coffee elite.
Coffee elites success with coffee gave it the economic power to dominate the rest of the economy. In el Salvador “ the domestic banking industry was entirely based on coffee wealth”(coffee in El Salvador 10). This shows that even the banking system was based on the production of coffee, the leading banks were also controlled by the coffee families until there were finally nationalized in 1980. The families were so rich and powerful that they controlled banks and with that they could decide who would get loans. There is a comparison that the coffee elites came to rival the industrial fortunes in the develop world. The elites were divided between the producers and the mill owners, the mill owners who processed the coffee actually had control of the export trade. This was due to the fact that many coffee producers did not own mills and therefore sold their coffee to those who did. That meant that the mill owners actually had more power than the producers because the producers did not have any way to process the coffee. There was one group that represented all of the coffee elites it was called Asociación Salvadoreña de Cafe or ASCAFE for short. This group was so powerful that it was a virtual state within a state(Coffee in El Salvador). ASCAFE had total control of the coffee economy and Banco Hipotecario. As stated in Weak Foundations by Hector Lindo-Fuentes “
coffee growers by and large controlled institutions of the state and used them to spread coffee cultivation”(123). Eventually, another group emerged that was run by the mill owners and the exporters of coffee it was called the Asociación Salvadoreña de Beneficiadores y Exportadores or ABECAFE for short. The ABECAFE eventually gained more influence and power when one of their own was elected president of el Salvador his name was Alfredo Cristiani. With him being president this made the coffee processors the leading power in Salvadoran elite and national society. Coffee was viewed as a gift from god. It allowed a tiny territory with no natural resources to be able to achieve economic development. This was the view of the ABECAFE that coffee was a gift of god, it taught them how to compete, and that it opened markets that were other wise closed. There was a major boom in coffee export with the triumph of liberalism, “with urbanization, railway construction, and significant economic growth under liberal guidance”(Rise and Decline 294). The prosperity of coffee under liberals assured their political dominance but it was enforced by a strong military. With the dominance that the liberals gained from the coffee they were able to establish suffrage for those who could not read or write. Moreover, they were able to grant citizenship to women. The problem was that the liberals and the conservatives started out as separate groups but as time passed they ended up becoming one and the same as stated in Rise and Decline of Liberalism by Ralph Lee WoodWard “conservatives of the 20th century”(295). Even from the beginning the liberals were not looking for equality, just like the conservatives they discriminated and mistreated the mestizos and indigenous people. Eventually when the conservatives were out of the way they became the same as them. In the end no one truly wanted what was best for the indigenous people they all wanted them to be forgotten. In conclusion coffee had many effects on the countries of Central America, it impacted their economy. Making them able to enter the world market and to modernize their nations. It also affected the workers who would work in these plantations, as well as the indigenous people who held land needed for cultivation. It propelled a whole new generation of ruling elites who ruled based on how much coffee they could produce and if they could process it. This one crop brought about so much change for these struggling nations, it truly changed the direction that these nations were heading. This crop truly was a miracle for an area where they had no type of natural resources. This crop allowed them to go from being the poorest nations to some of the most progressive nations in the world.
elites, and drove these countries into modernity. The introduction of coffee had a big effect on the lives of the people living in central america. The indians and mestizos lost their lands to private owner ship as stated in the article the 1932 rebellion of el Salvador. They suffered under new laws that came into place by the government that wanted to expand coffee plantations, so they needed more land. They passed a law that abolished community owned lands to private ownership. In Costa Rica the government ordered the distribution of uncultivated lands. Land for coffee cultivation was distributed which had far reaching effects. However, the working conditions in these coffee plantations ended up being very horrible. First they lose their land and now even when they work on these plantations they get ugly working conditions. Take El Salvador for example there are usually one hundred and fifty workers but when in picking season there are as many as five hundred. This includes women and children of fifteen and up. “Coffee is quite generally picked by women and girls, who receive a fixed sum per measure”(coffee cultivation and production 701). They work ten hours a day and only get paid twenty five cents a day. “for which they are paid 25c a day local money”(El Salvador Rebellion). They do not get paid by the hour but by the day and that was in local currency. Many of the workers take their children to work the filed because they need them in order to meet their quota if not they do not get paid. The twenty five cents would translate to twelve cents in American currency. The workers would only get a handful of beans to eat and would get a few tortillas to eat. That would all cost about 1 cent in total. Most of the population of El Salvador was indian and contributed the most to coffee production, yet El Salvador was trying to erase them. Many of the workers would work in ugly, and filthy conditions. The housing conditions for those who live on the plantation with their families are horrible. There are many large one room warehouses where forty to sixty people live with their families. There is little privacy or security for the people who live there. Especially for women who stay on the plantations there are many instances of rape that occur because there is not type of security in place. The employers did not care about them at all, they worked in conditions that were similar to slavery. All this was to make more coffee and also to save the most money that they could. Guatemala actually has made workers work overtime without pay and that is in violation of their labor laws. There is also the issue of pesticides that are being used, they contaminate the water supply putting at risk the workers who drink the water. While also can fatally harm the workers who work with these chemicals. The lack of proper equipment and training puts these workers health in risk, even with the proper training applying pesticides can cause harmful effects to the worker. Some of the worker would even have to bring their own machetes. The plantation owners would actually make a profit of about one hundred thousand dollars a season and the labor for the season was about 2000 local currency. This demonstrates that there is more than enough money to justify giving better working conditions to the workers and proper equipment. In Nicaragua there were actually vagrancy laws passed that would punish anyone hat was not working. This essentially made it possible to get work for free because the employers did not have to pay the worker. They could just tell the worker to go away but the worker would not be able to leave because he needed to work if he did not want to get punished. This was the same in other Central American countries, they all viewed the workers as unimportant. All that mattered was being able to produce coffee at the lowest cost possible. They wanted high profit but low cost to produce and so the governments made laws that would help the plantation owners actually accomplish this. Furthermore, coffee had great effects on the economy of Central American countries as well. The effect that coffee had on their economy was grand, they were able to enter the world market.
They were able to modernize themselves and move forward. “Costa Rica, one of the region's poorest states at end of colonial era”(Coffee in Nicaragua 26). Costa Rica benefited a lot from coffee because it allowed it to progress from one of the poorest states to one of the most progressive. They did this by promoting coffee and making moves to enter the world market. In order to transport coffee these countries needed to modernize, they built new roads, railroads, and new ports all for the transportation of coffee. The roads that were built are hard surfaced and they are helpful because they can be used by people other than the coffee growers. The railroads were also useful for the transportation of coffee, of course the governments had to pay for them to be built. The coffee plantation owners would strong arm them to get them built if they wanted their business. The most used type of transportation was the ports, so getting them built was very important mostly by the pacific. The ports of the pacific were used more than the ones in the Caribbean. “ the first railroads, telephones, and other communications were constructed in the country”(The liberal republic 16). These three thing helped modernize these central American countries by bringing in income. In Nicaragua coffee accounted for at least 9 percent of total exports. That state was a big help in promoting coffee and foreign …show more content…
immigration to Nicaragua they wanted to get as many people to Nicaragua and buy land and produce coffee. Especially in areas that were low in transportation networks. This was their way of trying to minimize the amount of money they lost because of bad transportation networks in remote areas. This ended up bringing people from Germany, Great Britain, and United States. With them came big capital and resulted in the large coffee estates being built in the highlands which made them even more money (coffee in Nicaragua ). “Export statistics show that 90 percent of the total value of Salvador's export is coffee”(Coffee industry 62). While in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica the total value of export that is coffee is eighty four for Guatemala, fifty three for Nicaragua, and fifty two for Costa Rica. All these countries depend on coffee for more than half of their trade especially Guatemala. However, coffee has had also a big effect on the ruling classes of Central America. If you had a coffee plantation that made you a person of high standing because you were considered a coffee elite.
Coffee elites success with coffee gave it the economic power to dominate the rest of the economy. In el Salvador “ the domestic banking industry was entirely based on coffee wealth”(coffee in El Salvador 10). This shows that even the banking system was based on the production of coffee, the leading banks were also controlled by the coffee families until there were finally nationalized in 1980. The families were so rich and powerful that they controlled banks and with that they could decide who would get loans. There is a comparison that the coffee elites came to rival the industrial fortunes in the develop world. The elites were divided between the producers and the mill owners, the mill owners who processed the coffee actually had control of the export trade. This was due to the fact that many coffee producers did not own mills and therefore sold their coffee to those who did. That meant that the mill owners actually had more power than the producers because the producers did not have any way to process the coffee. There was one group that represented all of the coffee elites it was called Asociación Salvadoreña de Cafe or ASCAFE for short. This group was so powerful that it was a virtual state within a state(Coffee in El Salvador). ASCAFE had total control of the coffee economy and Banco Hipotecario. As stated in Weak Foundations by Hector Lindo-Fuentes “
coffee growers by and large controlled institutions of the state and used them to spread coffee cultivation”(123). Eventually, another group emerged that was run by the mill owners and the exporters of coffee it was called the Asociación Salvadoreña de Beneficiadores y Exportadores or ABECAFE for short. The ABECAFE eventually gained more influence and power when one of their own was elected president of el Salvador his name was Alfredo Cristiani. With him being president this made the coffee processors the leading power in Salvadoran elite and national society. Coffee was viewed as a gift from god. It allowed a tiny territory with no natural resources to be able to achieve economic development. This was the view of the ABECAFE that coffee was a gift of god, it taught them how to compete, and that it opened markets that were other wise closed. There was a major boom in coffee export with the triumph of liberalism, “with urbanization, railway construction, and significant economic growth under liberal guidance”(Rise and Decline 294). The prosperity of coffee under liberals assured their political dominance but it was enforced by a strong military. With the dominance that the liberals gained from the coffee they were able to establish suffrage for those who could not read or write. Moreover, they were able to grant citizenship to women. The problem was that the liberals and the conservatives started out as separate groups but as time passed they ended up becoming one and the same as stated in Rise and Decline of Liberalism by Ralph Lee WoodWard “conservatives of the 20th century”(295). Even from the beginning the liberals were not looking for equality, just like the conservatives they discriminated and mistreated the mestizos and indigenous people. Eventually when the conservatives were out of the way they became the same as them. In the end no one truly wanted what was best for the indigenous people they all wanted them to be forgotten. In conclusion coffee had many effects on the countries of Central America, it impacted their economy. Making them able to enter the world market and to modernize their nations. It also affected the workers who would work in these plantations, as well as the indigenous people who held land needed for cultivation. It propelled a whole new generation of ruling elites who ruled based on how much coffee they could produce and if they could process it. This one crop brought about so much change for these struggling nations, it truly changed the direction that these nations were heading. This crop truly was a miracle for an area where they had no type of natural resources. This crop allowed them to go from being the poorest nations to some of the most progressive nations in the world.