The Bitter Cost of Sweetness: Terricide, Extractivism, and the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemic in El Salvador's Sugar Cane Industry

Chronic Kidney Disease of non-traditional causes is a major public health crisis in El Salvador, a leading global producer of sugarcane. The disease disproportionately affects agricultural workers without prior histories of diabetes or hypertension. This project theorizes that the epidemic is rooted in settler-colonial structural violence and constitutes an act of terricidio or terricide—the systematic destruction and murder of the land and all its bodies. I argue that this violence is perpetuated through unsustainable agro-extractivist practices, exploitative labor conditions, and inadequate healthcare systems. By analyzing the epidemic through the broader framework of terricidio, this project explores its connection to ongoing settler-colonialism, which continues to shape El Salvador’s rural landscapes and communities.