Tecnología y la industria fiquera colombiana: aprovechando la experiencia latinoamericana, 1880-1938
| Autor | Jairo Campuzano-Hoyos |
| Cargo | Ph.D. in History, University of Notre Dame. Profesor de tiempo completo de la Escuela de Administración de la Universidad EAFIT, Correo electrónico: jcampuz2@eafit.edu.co |
| Páginas | 29-56 |
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AD-MINISTER
AD-minister Nº. 32 enero-junio 2018 pp. 29 - 55 · ISSN 1692-0279 · eISSN 2256-4322
JAIRO
CAMPUZANOHOYOS
JEL: O, N, N, N
Recibido: 14/01/2018
Modificado: 30/04/2018
Aceptado: 21/05/2018
DOI: 10.17230/ad-minister.32.2
www.eafit.edu.co/ad-minister
Creative Commons (CC BY-NC- SA)
Technology and the Colombian Fique Industry:
Drawing from Latin American Expertise, 1880-1938*
Tecnología y la industria fiquera colombiana: aprovechando la experiencia latinoamericana,
1880-1938
JAIRO CAMPUZANOHOYOS
ABSTRACT
This article examines the technological origins and changes of the Colombian fique (henequen) industry
throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It argues that the industry was established
and reached significant levels of growth, in part due to the input of Colombian intellectuals, entrepre-
neurs, and scientists who examined global developments, disseminated useful knowledge, and sought
to adapt suitable crops, practices, and technologies to Colombia’s particular needs, settings, and social
traits. These individuals looked mainly at Mexico. This history challenges the traditional assumption
that Latin American countries generally developed a technological dependence on the North Atlantic
nations. Mid-nineteenth-century Mexican inventions turned out to be particularly useful to Colombians
seeking to foster small productive units in rural areas. The Colombian fique industry developed initially
as “patrimonio de los pobres” (“heritage of the poor”). Attempts to introduce sophisticated, expensive
technologies proved futile.
KEYWORDS
Fique, henequen, natural fibers, textile industry, technology, patents, Mexico, Latin American history.
RESUMEN
Este artículo examina el origen de la industria fiquera colombiana y el cambio tecnológico dentro de esa
industria a fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX. Sostiene que esta industria se estableció y pudo alcan-
zar niveles significativos de crecimiento en parte porque algunos intelectuales, empresarios y científicos
colombianos examinaron desarrollos globales, difundieron conocimiento útil y buscaron adaptar cultivos,
prácticas y tecnologías adecuadas a las necesidades y rasgos sociales particulares de Colombia. Estos
individuos observaron principalmente a México. Esta historia desafía el supuesto tradicional de que los
países latinoamericanos generalmente desarrollaron una dependencia tecnológica en las naciones del
Atlántico Norte. Invenciones desarrolladas en México a mediados del siglo XIX resultaron ser particular-
mente útiles para los colombianos que buscaban fomentar pequeñas unidades productivas en las áreas
rurales. La industria del fique colombiana se desarrolló inicialmente como “patrimonio de los pobres”.
Los intentos de introducir tecnologías sofisticadas y costosas resultaron inútiles.
PALABRAS CLAVE
Fique, henequén, fibras naturales, industria textil, tecnología, patentes, México, historia latinoamericana.
1 Ph.D. in History, University of Notre Dame. Profesor de tiempo completo de la Escuela de Adminis-
tración de la Universidad EAFIT, Correo electrónico: jcampuz2@eafit.edu.co
Jairo Campuzano-Hoyos
Technology and the Colombian Fique Industry: Drawing from Latin American Expertise, 1880-1938
30
AD-MINISTER
INTRODUCTION
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, various local intellectuals, entrepreneurs,
and scientists looked for models of productive agricultural and industrial enterprises
worldwide and found that Latin American experiences, rather than the North
Atlantic developments, provided more appropriate models to adopt to Colombia’s
particular circumstances. They examined and sought to adapt to Colombia’s dierent
regions, a variety of crops, pastures, and animal breeds, as well as industrial sectors,
methods, and technologies that they believed were contributing to the economic
growth of neighboring countries, such as Argentina’s cattle, wool and manufacturing
industries, Chile’s wheat production, and Mexico’s cotton and henequen-based textile
industries. (Industria algodonera, 1899; López, 1906a; Observatorio Astronómico
Nacional, 1885) Likewise, Colombian intellectuals studied the railway system in
neighboring countries. Concerned citizens such as the Colombian priest Federico
Cornelio Aguilar also proposed during the 1880s to establish Schools of Arts and
Crafts following the example of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador,
and Venezuela. (Aguilar, 1884a; Discusión relativa a la ley nacional sobre fomento
de varias mejoras materiales y colonización de tierras baldías, 1871; “Ferrocarriles
de Chile,” 1889; Mensaje que el Vicepresidente de la República encargado del poder
ejecutivo dirige al Congreso Nacional en sus sesiones extraordinarias de 1903, 1903;
Pérez Triana, 1911; Railroad Gazette, 1888)
Some Colombian political and intellectual leaders came to conclude that, as
in the case of government systems and institutions, the productive structure of a
nation was grounded in specific geographical, political, social, and cultural traits.
However, although the North Atlantic was actively producing innovative know-how
and technologies to mechanize agricultural and industrial production, the process
of technology transfer from the north was not straightforward.2 In fact, for most
of the nineteenth century, to reach Colombia’s main urban hubs in the Andean
highlands, imported merchandise and technologies were required to travel several
weeks by antiquated transportation systems (including indigenous silleteros and
cargueros) through turbulent rivers, rough mountains, muddy roads, and tropical
forests. Technological hardware was scarcely introduced and adopted in Colombia
until the 1900s when, aided by a few rail lines connecting major productive centers
with the Magdalena River, which was the sole trade artery flowing into the Atlantic
during the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. Local entrepreneurs
began a gradual process of mechanization of production in regions like Antioquia.
(Botero Herrera, 1984; Brew, 1977; Campuzano Hoyos, 2006; Grupo de Historia
Empresarial Eafit, 2013; Montenegro, 2002) In a context of limited introduction of
North Atlantic technologies, technical expertise remained as the privilege of a few,
including some foreigners and local inventors and engineers who built foundries
2 Technology transfer “denotes not just successful adoption and commercial use, but also the local assimilation
of the knowledge and expertise necessary to troubleshoot, repair, modify, adapt, and perhaps replicate
imported technologies. Such technological capabilities can stimulate and sustain local creativity, invention,
and innovation.” (Beatty, 2015, p. 17)
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