i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

the discourse surrounding who is in power and how they came to power that reflects local
sociocultural dynamics in terms of land use and ownership.
I was curious about how certain individuals were able to find successful
employment in the expansive state apparatus of the Sandinista government and, in turn,
acquired lands from the people they fought against. This situation is common among the
local class hierarchy of San Juan del Río Coco. Several ex-bureaucrats rose to
prominence through their involvement with the Revolutionary government.
For a couple of weeks during the dry season I helped Adrian Gonzalez work his
vegetable patch, which is located on the west side of town near Zona Uno, on a piece of
Don Amado’s land. Adrian has about a half manzana of tomatoes, cabbage, and onion
planted approximately 500 or 700 meters up the mountain that faces his father’s house.
This windy trail is marked with hoof prints and manure droppings. The views are
amazing. One can see as far as the Chumpe, the clear-cut peak on the far northern end of
the Bálsamo Valley, just north of San Juan. The clear-cutting and field burning of large
pasturelands are also apparent from this vantage.
The soil and rows are hand-tilled. Adrian uses a long hose to bring water from a
spring/creek that passes along the mountain canyon. He also uses drip hoses for hillside
irrigation. The land is rich in nutrients, and Adrian plants beans during the rainy season to
add nutrients to the soil. This is the fourth year he has farmed vegetables. He began this
effort through a UNAG (Unión de Agricultores y Ganaderos) project that supplied seeds,
drip hoses, and training to farmers whose production lulls during the off-season, but who
have access to water and labor. The purpose is to diversify production and liberate
farmers from dependencies on outside sources for foods and to improve their nutrition.
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