Emboldened by the approval of a new constitution, Bolivian president Evo Morales on Saturday handed over ownership of farmland seized by the state from wealthy estate holders to poor indigenous people.
Mr Morales distributed around 94,000 acres (38,000 hectares) of lands recently confiscated from five big ranches in Bolivia’s wealthy eastern lowlands. Its owners had been accused of employing workers in conditions of semi-slavery.
“Private property will always be respected, but we want people who are not interested in equality to change their thinking and focus more on country than currency,” said Mr Morales.
Ranchers can still appeal the expropriations in agrarian courts.
The new constitution, approved by referendum six weeks ago, sets limits on single farm tracts to 12,400 acres (5,000 hectares) and states that farms must meet certain economic and social conditions.
“It is not that these lands were not in production, but that they were the site of human rights violations against the Guarani [Indians], who will now be their new owners,” Mr Morales said.
An Aymara Indian and former leader of coca-leaf farmers, Morales is Bolivias first indigenous president. He has governed the resource-rich nation for three years and is especially popular among the poor and indigenous groups. – (Reuters)