35 

 Eventually several social and economic programs, including the construction of roads, schools, and 

 hospitals, were undertaken to improve the quality of life in Quintana Roo (Escobar Nava, 1986). 



By 1983, the population of Quintana Roo had increased to 330,813 inhabitants and reflected 

 much recent growth and development in the state. Chetumal (75,113 inhabitants), in the southern part 

 of the state, has prospered as the state capital and as a thriving commercial center for trade with Belize. 

 In the north, the cities of Cancun (about 81,000 inhabitants) and Cozumel (23,224 inhabitants) have 

 flourished since the mid 1970s as resorts for national and international tourists (Dachary and Amaiz 

 Burne, 1984). Today, less than 40% of the population of Quintana Roo lives in rural areas, in 

 administrative units called ejidos (described below), and still practices traditional subsistence activities 

 (Dachary and Amaiz Bume, 1984). 



Ejido System in Mexico 



The village of X-Hazil Sur is a part of Ejido X-Hazil y Anexos and is located about 25 km S 

 of Felipe Carrillo Puerto (Figure 2-1). The ejido system was instituted in Quintana Roo in 1928 to 

 allow Maya Indians and other rural people to have title to specific tracts of land around their villages in 

 areas that previously were considered govermnent lands. These tracts were held in communal 

 ownership where the residents could live and practice their subsistence activities. Previously, 

 government officials sold concessions on these lands to outside business people without compensating 

 local residents; a great deal of resentment among local residents resulted. The objective of the new 

 system was to improve relations between business people, local residents, and government officials by 

 giving local people control over their lands. 



Ejidos are properties, either owned by the government or expropriated from private owners, 

 where landless campesinos (subsistence fanners) have usufruct to the area (Gordillo, 1988). In this 

 system, the residents do not have title to individual plots of land within the ejido; rather, they enjoy 

 control over a plot as long as they live on it or continue to work it. Certified residents are called 

 ejidatarios (adult men who are certified legal residents of the area and widows voting on behalf of their 



