Decree 900, Land reform law in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Decree 900 was an agrarian reform law enacted in Guatemala in 1952 that regulated the redistribution of unused agricultural land. The law targeted large plots exceeding 90 hectares and allowed these properties to be transferred to local farmers and rural workers through legal procedures.
The decree was introduced in 1952 under President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán and signaled a break from feudal land structures that had persisted since colonial times. This reform marked a turning point in Guatemala's efforts to modernize land distribution and limit the control of large landowners.
The reform provided 500,000 indigenous people access to agricultural land, addressing centuries of dispossession since the Spanish colonial period.
Implementation occurred through local Agrarian Committees that received applications from citizens and decided on land allocation. Interested parties could make claims through established legal channels and had to follow the designated procedures.
The reform resulted in the redistribution of approximately 570,000 hectares of land in less than two years, representing unprecedented speed for land reform in the region. This rapid implementation demonstrated how decisively the government at the time pursued changes in land ownership.
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