Abstract

This Article examines ranching and the behavior of cattle businessmen in the Araucanía during the first sixty years of the twentieth century. The author considers that, despite the favorable conditions that existed in the region for its full development, activity was stalled due to many factors, among which the role of the State and entrepreneurs was decisive. The fi rst was not able to design a clear policy to stimulate this activity and the latter didn´t risk innovation, integration of technology and modernization of their activities, in order to develop a food industry that the country needed. Without a doubt, the Argentinean competition, epidemics affecting livestock, the lack of fodder and means of transport, fears awakened by banditry, the unresolved status of the indigenous lands seized after the arrival of the State to Mapuche territories and the crisis of 1929 complicated the situation further. As a backdrop however the author considers the diffi culties faced by the agrarian economies in Latin America during the twentieth century, which have shown weaknesses in the maturation process of capitalism.