Like many other indigenous peoples in the state, Consuela believes Mexico’s national REDD program is designed to fold Chiapas’ indigenous populations into international markets, thereby “modernizing” the state. In this way, indigenous peoples, most of whom do not generate revenue for their governments, can become “productive members of society.” By agreeing to plant African Palms, Consuela believes indigenous farmers are effectively cut off from an identity based on the land they cultivate, the cyclical nature of agriculture and the maize seeds they once planted.
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