Rural Indigenous Leaders in Bolivia Pressure Government For Access To Land

Audrey ONeal

16 years ago

Categories: PoliticsWorld

Rural Indigenous Leaders in Bolivia Pressure Government For Access To Land

-Translated to English By Jackie O’Neal

According to Bolivia’s La Prensa.com rural indigenous leaders from Potosi representing The Northern Rural Federation(la Federación Campesina de la Región Norte), are putting pressure on president Evo Morales to consider giving access to land in Pando in order for the organization to begin registering at least 1,000 indigenous people.

The director of la Federación Campesina de la Región Norte, Juvenal Pacheco revealed that currently there are 800 registered families and expects more to be registered by June 10. He explained that once 1,000 families are registered in total, they will begin to seek land for that number of families.

The story went on to say that Pacheco asserted that the families would use the land for agricultural production, and hence be able to improve their quality of life in that region.

A rural indigenous leader in Potosi pointed out that there are fertile lands in the Pando region, as well as other areas that are not conducive to farming. Farmers in the region estimate at least 200.000 hectares of land (497 acres) are not fertile. He further explained that the situation is the opposite of what is happening in Potosi where one family, for example has one hecatare of land, or more, but as a result of the family also having five, or more children, the land was divided up, according to La Prensa.

Families in the Potosi region have access to only a minimum of crops so that all families in the region can subsist equally.

According to official records, in some areas north of Potosino, it is estimated up to 95 percent of the population live in dire poverty. Out of 100 persons, only five will have access to basic services, while the rest suffer from the lack of basics.

The rural indigenous leaders in charge of the registration campaign hope that the government will allow access to 100.000 hectares of land (247 acres) in order to begin agricultural production and raise the standard of living in terms of access to basic nutrition.

Potosí is the capital of the "Department of Potosi" in Bolivia.

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Audrey ONeal: About Audrey Jackie O'Neal: Currently, O'Neal is a clinical therapist in training and completing a Masters of Science in Mental Health Counseling via Walden University. In her blog here at GR, she writes about issues related to mental health counseling. O'Neal was awarded a scholarship for the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism course" Entrepreneurial Journalism" from Tow-Knight Entrepreneurial Journalism Center. As a reporter Oâ€™Neal has been a regular contributor to the award-winning The Press of Atlantic City, and The New York Amsterdam News. Her stories and commentary both print and broadcast have appeared on NPR- 51% The Womenâ€™s Perspective, CBS Radio, Book Talk- Artists First Radio Network among others. â€œOrganizations that have hired me to write feature stories point out my ability to filter through developments often going back months, connect with the parties involved (for the most part, located across the world), and produce a heartwarming and vivid story is impressive. My news stories have been published on various online platforms, most notably, on the Huffington Post. Clients say my writing talent has expanded and strengthened their voice in the community.â€ She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College.