La Paz, May 6 (Prensa Latina) The Union Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB) begins nationwide road blockades rejecting Law 1720, according to instructions circulated to all its branches.
The largest rural social organization in this country reaffirms its support for hundreds of marchers from Pando and Beni, who, after a 28-day journey from those departments, delivered their leading demand: the repeal of Law 1720, to the Casa Grande del Pueblo, the headquarters of the Executive.
This law establishes the conversion of smallholdings of productive land into medium-sized holdings and the possibility of mortgaging them.
Critics of the law believe it only benefits the agribusiness oligarchy and opens the door to the expansion of large landholdings.
The contingent of indigenous people and farmers from Beni and Pando entered the seat of Government after traveling more than 100 kilometers from the lowlands to the highlands, convinced that Law 1720 threatens their territorial rights.
During the national assembly convened by the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB) in the city of El Alto on May 1, CSUTCB executive leader Victor Hugo Roca gave the Government an ultimatum until this Wednesday to address their demands, threatening to activate a series of nationwide mobilizations.
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