Planificación y desarrollo exógeno. Un modelo de desarrollo inconcluso en el Noroeste Argentino. El Proyecto Rio Dulce en la provincia de Santiago del Estero (1964-1994)

This article aims to analyze a phenomenon that was not very widespread in the second half of the twentieth century, such as the comprehensive rural development projects (DRI) deployed in our country based on external financing, in a context of political control of the danger of eventual agrarian reforms to restore rights to the most vulnerable agricultural sectors. That is why, to counteract this offensive, impetus was given at the request of the "Alliance for Progress" to promote public policies aimed at mitigating the effects of possible socialist reforms and creating a favorable scenario to block the expansion of the Cuban project in the southern cone. Specifically, the analysis of integral rural development projects such as that of the Rio Dulce Corporation, in the time when it lasted, (between the mid-1960s and the beginning of the 1990s) tries to explain the history to a great extent. on the social and economic development of the irrigation zone of the province of Santiago del Estero in the second half of the 20th century. It also provides elements to interpret the underdevelopment present in the studied area. The analysis is carried out within the framework of the actors involved in the project; settlers, cooperatives for production and placement on the market. Thus, the development of an unfinished agroindustrial pole acquired significant importance during the time the planning project lasted. Therefore, we propose to examine the small agricultural production, inserted in a gradual process of decomposition, which occurred with the experience of the development project articulated between the Rio Dulce Corporation, the provincial and national state and foreign credit and planning agencies, with the purpose of explaining the instability caused by certain foreign policies that, supported by theories promoting exogenous development, would leave as a result a deteriorated productive space and an unfinished social formation.