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| Flickr CC via Ruin Raiders |
Agribusiness giant Cargill has been buying large tracts of land in Colombia under multiple company
names in order to skirt a law that would prevent a single entity from owning
too much land. Colombia has passed
reform laws for agriculture that will support small farmers by limiting plot sizes
by companies or individuals. From 2010
to 2012, Cargill has purchased about 13,000 acres of land in the Altillanura
plains. Each purchase was nearly exactly
the legal limit, and all owners are registered with the same address and
agricultural purpose.
Oxfam says Cargill has amassed an amount more than 30 times
the legally allowed space, and believes the company intends on farming the land
as a single working operation. While
Cargill is not the only company engaging in this practice, it is the largest
and most well known.
In Colombia, 14% of landowners have 80% of available
land. The government is trying to reform
land laws that would provide access to new landowners. Fights over land ownership were one of the catalysts
for a bloody, decades-long rebellion in the country. The government is currently negotiating
further reforms with the guerilla group in Cuba.
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| Colombia Farm/ Photo via World Bank |
Carlos Urrutia, a senior partner at Brigard and Urrutia law
firm, is linked to the land purchasing.
Urrutia was a Colombian ambassador to the United States when the rumors
about the corrupt practice began circulating.
The law firm facilitated all of Cargill’s land purchases. Urrutia resigned in June.
Oxfam says that purchasing land beyond legal limits
undermines efforts to combat social inequality in a country that is finally finding
stability after fifty years of conflict.
A spokesperson from Cargill disagrees with Oxfam’s interpretation of the
law.
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