Bolivian Farmers and Indigenous Groups Resist Paz Administration's Pro-Industry Policies

Peasant and Indigenous groups across Bolivia have mounted protests and marches against the government of President Rodrigo Paz over laws and agreements that open land to agroindustry and mining.

• In April, the government passed a law allowing small family-owned plots to be converted to medium-sized holdings, exposing them to corporate buyouts; the law was repealed in May after protests.
• Ruth Alipaz, an Uchupiamona Indigenous leader, said the government's May agreement with mining cooperatives lifting barriers to operating in protected areas "will create a complete lack of control" in Indigenous territories.
• Community leader Nelly Coca said police dismantled her blockade of a Petrobras hydrocarbon project in the Tariquía national reserve and that Petrobras initiated legal proceedings against her and 16 other activists.
• Peasant union leader Edgar Carpio Chávez said he voted for Paz and was invited to his inauguration, but now the government left him no choice but to march to the capital to be heard.