Quote 1 from article: [This high level of support has also allowed the government to move forward with its "agrarian revolution", violently opposed by the large landowners who have begun to set up paramilitary groups.]
Rui: What are these large landowners (sic [presumably fat cat owners of large tracts of land :-)]) doing with the land? Besides, it doesn't appear as if land is as important a factor as in some other countries: Agriculture accounts for roughly 15% of Bolivia's GDP. The amount of land cultivated by modern farming techniques is increasing rapidly in the Santa Cruz area, where weather allows for two crops a year. Soybeans are the major cash crop, sold into the Andean Community market. The extraction of minerals and hydrocarbons accounts for another 10% of GDP and manufacturing less than 17%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia In Portugal the agrarian reform that followed the 1974 Carnation Revolution including getting land that was not being put to good use - absentees landlords controlled vast tracts, but lived in mansions in the big cities while the land lay fallow. In Zimbabwe, on the other hand, the confiscation of land from the 'rich white farmers' has led to the destruction of the economy in that country, which as moved from being a food exporter to requiring international food aid. Quote 2 from article: [They were not the only ones to leave upset. US ambassador Phillip Goldberg did not take kindly to Morales's demand for the legislative body to pass a bill requiring US citizens to obtain visas before entering the country, as Bolivians must do to enter the US, for reasons of "dignity, reciprocity and security".] Rui: I find it indescribable that in this day and age any American should still not have realised that most of the world has woken up to the fact that the emperor is naked - in fact that he was merely an usurper ordering every body around in their own countries. What is wrong with a bit of tit-for-tat? Didn't the same happen with Brazil not too long ago? Michael A. Lebowitz Professor Emeritus Economics Department Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 Currently based in Venezuela. NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBERS Can be reached at Residencias Anauco Suites Departamento 601 Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1 Caracas, Venezuela (58-212) 573-6333, 571-1520, 571-3820 (or hotel cell: 0412-200-7540) fax: (58-212) 573-7724
