Thursday, February 22, 2007

82 - Third World Land Reform Would Allow Hungry People To Feed Themselves: Another Social Justice Measure The Right-Wing Tries To Kill

Today we're going to pick up from a few podcasts ago, and discuss another example of a Third World nation's people fighting for their very lives. It's yet another chapter in the book of global economic justice.

Bolivian President Evo Morales proposed a sweeping land reform bill, to ensure that like his nation's other national resource, natural gas, Bolivia's fertile lands would be utilized for the benefit of all Bolivians, not just for the benefit of a relative handful of large landowners.

Land reform would allow small farmers to feed themselves, and grow affordable food for impoverished Bolivians, who constitute a majority of that nation.

Morales started small. He gave

poor farming communities some 8,500 square miles of government land.

But then Morales proposed legislation that

would eventually allow his government to redistribute some 77,000 square miles of unproductive land.

Morales has said the government will not seize productive land, but rather large tracts of Bolivia's sparsely populated east held by a handful of wealthy families.

What, social justice for the poor? This can't be allowed to happen. The right-wing opposition did everything it could to kill the measure.

Then things became, shall we say, interesting.

Can you imagine the sound of thousands of feet marching down from the impoverished Bolivian highlands?

Listen to the podcast for the details of what happened next.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!)

Jack Clark 5:15 PM [+]
Post #1862616011889790463