The Land Question in Mexico

Despite the relatively small number of inhabitants in its vast expanse Mexico has had a land problem since the beginnings of history and before. The reason lies in the relatively small amounts of arable land, on account of the country's general aridity. Broadly speaking, the cliche of Mexico, as made familiar to the American Indian expanse of sandy desert with the bleached skull of a cow in the foreground, a low nopal cactus nearby, perhaps, and a solitary organ cactus in the middle distance graphically epitomizes the agrarian problem of Mexico.