Keeping Heads Above Water Keeping Heads Above Water examines the settlement of Salvadorean refugees in Costa Rica. It focuses on urban employment programs designed to make them self-sufficient. These programs were funded and implemented by various international and domestic, governmental and nongovernmental agen- cies. The book addresses the question of why some small urban refugee enterprises failed, and how and why others survive and succeeded. This analysis is placed in the framework of theories that deal with the survival of petty commodity production in the capitalist economy. The unique contri- bution of this book is that it relates refugee settlement to theories of compa- rative development. Two theoretical explanations are presented in the book. According to the first, small noncapitalist enterprises are viable as long as they avoid compe- tition with capitalist firms. According to the second, known as the articulation approach, petty commodity producers are functional to capital accumulation in the capitalist sector and are therefore constantly reproduced by it. The book criticizes both of these approaches for placing too much emphasis on external aspects of production. Instead, it suggests that internal aspects of production, such as technology, labour relations, and organization of produc- tion, need to be examined in order to understand how informal petty commo- dity producers survive the competition with capitalist enterprises. TANYA BASOK is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Windsor. This page intentionally left blank Keeping Heads Above Water Salvadorean Refugees in Costa Rica TANYA BASOK McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo © McGill-Queen's University Press 1993 ISBN 0-7735-0977-1 Legal deposit second quarter 1993 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec hh Printed in Canada on acid-free paper This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and with the aid of a grant from the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Social Science, University of Windsor. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Basok, Tanya, 1958- Keeping heads above water: Salvadorean refugees in Costa Rica Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-0977-1 1. Salvadorans - Costa Rica - Social conditions. 2. Salvadorans - Costa Rica - Economic conditions. 3. Refugees, Political - El Salvador. 4. Refugees, Political - Costa Rica. I. Title. JV7413.B38 1993 325'.21'097284097286 C92-090715-6 Typeset in Times 11/13 by Caractera production graphique inc., Quebec City. Contents Tables vii Preface ix Acknowledgments xxi Glossary xxiii PART ONE DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL 1 El Salvador: Why a Refugee Movement? 17 2 Costa Rica as a Country of Asylum 26 3 Social Integration of Salvadoreans 38 PART TWO REFUGEE AID 4 Settlement of Refugees: Types of Assistance 57 5 Durable Solution and Local Settlement Urban Employment Programs 74 vi Contents PART THREE EXPLAINING SURVIVAL AND SUCCESS OF SALVADOREAN URBAN ENTERPRISES 6 Petty Commodity Production: Dissolution and Conservation 87 7 Relations with the Capitalist Sector 100 8 Internal Aspects of Production 112 Conclusion 129 Appendix 137 Notes 139 Bibliography 143 Index 155 Tables 1 Location and Numbers of Salvadorean Refugees and Displaced Persons, 1985 24 2 Distribution of Refugees in Costa Rica by Country of Origin, 1985 27 3 Differences in Costa Rican and Salvadorean Vocabulary 39 4 Employment in the Informal Sector in Capitals of Central American Countries, 1982 45 5 Occupational Composition for Costa Rican and Salvadorean Enterprise Owners, 1982 45 6 Type of Clientele for Costa Rican and Salvadorean Enterprise Owners 46 7 Monthly Income Levels for Costa Rican and Salvadorean Enterprise Owners 47 8 UNHCR Monthly Aid according to Size of Family, 1983 58 9 UNHCR Monthly Aid according to Size of Family, 1985 58 viii Tables 10 Agencies Promoting Development Projects for Salvadorean Refugees in Costa Rica 62 11 Summary of Projects and Agencies Administering Them 67 12 Major Differences between Durable Solution and Local Settlement Programs 75 13 Hours Worked Per Week by Project Beneficiaries 76 14 Occupational Composition of Salvadorean Enterprises, by Employment Program 77 15 Participation in Local Settlement and Durable Solution Programs by Gender 82 16 Age Distribution of Salvadorean Refugees 101 17 Educational Level of Salvadorean Refugees 102 18 Civil Status of Salvadorean Refugees 102 19 Occupational Background of Salvadorean Refugees 103 20 Monthly Income of Salvadorean Enterprise Owners according to Where Raw Materials Were Purchased 104 21 Small Salvadorean Enterprises according to Type of Relationship with the Capitalist Sector by Occupation 109 22 Average Monthly Income by Type of Relationship to the Capitalist Sector 110 23 Monthly Income Levels according to Type of Relationship with the Capitalist Sector no 24 Comparison of Incomes of Salvadorean Enterprise Owners and Apprentices 122 Preface THE GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS The refugee phenomenon is not new: for centuries people have been forced to flee as a result of wars, feuds, raids, famines, and perse- cution of individuals. What distinguishes the current refugee crisis is its unprecedented scale. Factors that led to the recent refugee explosion can be traced to the colonial expansion that retarded economic growth in many Third World countries and created great disparities in wealth, not only between the developed and developing countries but inside devel- oping countries as well. These disparities in wealth continued to grow even after developing countries reached formal independence. National elites, subservient to foreign interests, need a system of repression for those who dare to challenge the status quo. To protect their own economic interests, foreign countries send military aid, advisers, and, at times, troops to repress dissent. Economic under- development, dependence, and political repression go hand in hand. In spite of repression, however, popular discontent in some countries erupted into liberation struggles and revolutions attacking old foun- dations (in Angola, Mozambique, Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Namibia, Guatemala, and Cuba). These struggles brought about direct and indirect foreign interventions (the United States in El Salvador and Chile, for example, the USSR in Afghanistan, and South