Mariana Diaz Chalela is a Ph.D candidate in Latin American history at Yale University. Her research interests include the history of international development, state formation, agrarian reform, and the role of law in shaping historical change. Her dissertation, tentatively titled “Borrowing Out of Poverty: Credit and State Formation in the Making of Rural Colombia (1929-1980)” examines the history of agricultural credit policies in Latin America and their connection to state formation and land politics. Before coming to Yale, Mariana earned her law degree and an M.A. in History at Universidad de los Andes and worked as a lawyer in Colombia. Her research at Yale has been generously funded by the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, the Tinker Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council. She is currently a Graduate Affiliate Fellow with the Program in Agrarian Studies.