Contendiendo en la globalización. Los empresarios cafetaleros del Soconusco y la organización de las cadenas de producción locales y globales

Since the end of the nineteenth century and with State support, coffee entrepreneurs from the Soconusco region in Chiapas have formed production, transformation and distribution links with American and European importers and roasters. The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies and alliances that these entrepreneurs established to address the global restructuration of the coffee industry and the rise of transnational companies. These strategies include, among others, the diversification of business activities, specialization of coffee business and a revitalization of the territory and agroecosystem. Employing qualitative methods, the research underscores the experiences and perspectives of key actors participating in production chains —farmers entrepreneurs, distributors, roasters—, members of coffee grower organizations, and public entities of the region and the state. The article´s primary conclusion affirms that coffee entrepreneurs were able to establish varying alliances, but also different degree of dissent, with transnational actors that enabled their insertion into the global coffee industry. Accordingly, globalization did not imply the development of a direct external control of the flow of resources and processes of the production chain.