Bolivia Some Facts

5 percent of the producers owned 89 percent of the arable land. The poorest 80 percent owned a mere 3 percent of the land (Nidia Diaz, Granma, 12/7/2006).

In the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni, a mere 14 families own three million hectares of farmland (Diaz).


"The rich and the poor

Bolivia is South America's poorest country, with 60 per cent of the nine million population living below the poverty line and 38 per cent in extreme poverty.

A survey by the Catholic Church found that 50,000 families own almost 90 per cent of the country's productive land.

Indigenous Bolivians earn less than half the money of their non-indigenous counterparts and receive 40 per cent less schooling.

The four eastern lowland provinces produce 82 per cent of Bolivia's natural gas. Their population is the least indigenous, ranging from 16 per cent in Pando to 38 per cent in Santa Cruz, compared with 66-84 per cent in the other states.

The eastern states have a per capita income about 40 per cent higher than the other five states.

The reassertion of state control over natural gas resources has brought in an extra $1.5bn of revenue to the treasury.

About this articleClose Violent protests against President Evo Morales shake Bolivia
This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday August 24 2008 on p38 of the World news section. It was last updated at 00:01 on August 24 2008."

"For example, a July 2002 declassified message from the U.S. embassy in Bolivia to Washington said, "A planned USAID political party reform project aims at implementing an existing Bolivian law that would...over the long run, help build moderate, pro-democracy political parties that can serve as a counterweight to the radical MAS [party of now President Evo Morales] or its successors." "

"However, one FOIA request he filed revealed that the quasi-governmental National Endowment for Democracy had funded programmes that brought 13 young "emerging leaders" from Bolivia to Washington between 2002 and 2004 to strengthen their right-wing political parties.

"It's not just the USAID but also other U.S. government entities that are putting money into opposition groups in Bolivia," Bigwood told IPS, charging that a major part of the funding is apparently aimed at "bribing people" in that country. "
From: U.S. Ties to Bolivian Opposition "Shrouded in Secrecy"