| On the Road to Zim-bob-we ... |
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Leftist President Evo Morales launched a sweeping land reform plan on Saturday by handing over roughly 9,600 square miles of state-owned land to poor Indians.
Morales marked the start of his "agrarian revolution" just weeks after nationalizing Bolivia's natural gas industry, giving foreign-owned energy companies six months to negotiate new contracts or leave.
Some land titles were handed out Saturday to Indian communities rather than individuals.
The ceremony came after talks broke down between Morales and agribusiness leaders on land reforms that involve handing out 77,000 square miles of government land - an area twice the size of Portugal - over the next five years. The government also has promised to redistribute some private holdings, generating further unease. One farmers' group has said it would form self-defense groups to prevent land seizures.
"The greatest need right now is the recuperation of our territory," Wilson Chacaray, a Guarani Indian leader, told the crowd. "The landowners, the foreign companies, the political parties that have always dominated this country took our land from us and that's why we live in misery."
The land currently targeted for redistribution was set aside for that purpose before Morales took office in January. None of it was been confiscated from large landholders. But the government says it will eventually seize and redistribute privately owned land that is unproductive, was obtained illegally or is being used for speculation. |