Fernando Benítez here brings up to date his vivid and perceptive account of the henequen industry of Yucatán, first published in 1956 (see HAHR, XXXVII, pp. 525-526). To that scholarly study of the historical development of henequen (ki in Mayan) in southeastern Mexico and the effects of the Mexican Revolution on the industry and its workers, Benítez now adds an enlightening interview with Lázaro Cárdenas, under whose administration the agrarian reform was seriously launched in Yucatán, and a final chapter analyzing the past six years. Essentially, he writes, the situation has not changed since 1956. Admitting that the Revolution has still failed to relieve the misery of the henequen workers, Benítez notes with cautious optimism the agrarian reform measures that López Mateos has promoted in Yucatán, the most comprehensive and far-reaching program since Cárdenas. But he also notes that the main beneficiaries of the peasants’ labor continue to be corrupt politicians and the old landholders, who control the processing machinery for the fiber. Benítez concludes that agrarian reform cannot become truly efficient or beneficial to the peasants and the region in general until it is accompanied by moral reform and until the ejidos include all aspects of production.
This work is essential to an accurate understanding of the history and present condition of Yucatán. The addition of the new material in this second edition increases its usefulness.
