Ranchers vow to fight Bolivian land seizure plans (U.S. former peace corp worker/current land owner)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Ranchers vow to fight Bolivian land seizure plans
Wed 18 Jun 2008, 14:30 GMT

By Eduardo Garcia

CAMIRI, Bolivia, June 18 (Reuters) - Wealthy cattle ranchers in Bolivia's steamy lowlands are getting ready to fight the leftist government's drive to seize large land holdings and redistribute them among poor Indians.

President Evo Morales, the impoverished country's first indigenous leader, has vowed to break a centuries-old pattern of huge ranches in the hands of a few, while many Indian families own no land at all.

Morales faces fierce conservative opposition in the eastern lowlands, where local leaders are pushing for greater autonomy from the central government. The ranchers and the government are afraid of violence as land seizure plans advance.

"This is like a tinderbox. If the government comes again, there will be no way out," said Ronald Larsen, a U.S. citizen and longtime Bolivian rancher, as he sat on the veranda of his home on the Caraparicito ranch.

He said local ranchers had twice forced land surveyors off their properties.


Read more: http://africa.reuters.com/commodities/news/usnN18468498.html?rpc=401&

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. "U.S. former peace corp worker/current land owner".... shades of

the Quiet American.

[Pavulon]

2. Worked in zimbabwe..

so I am sure that people who have no idea how to run commercial agra operations will do just fine.. Or we will just sell them beef when their operations collapse. Brazil will be happy to supply them as well.

[elehhhhna]

4. hell of a point there. this redistribution thing's been tried before.

smashing failure on every level.

[captain jack]

5. Your assumption is baseless and ridiculous.

You have no idea what these people are capable of. I suppose you would have them not try at all but rather remain peasants to be exploited or more Natives to be disregarded. Perhaps we(assuming your an American citizen)should have remained British as we had no idea how to run a country, and apparently still have no idea. I'm sure that for the good of the many (rather than profits)they would do just fine. Regardless, the alternative is your way...to not try at all. With courage and insight such as this it's no wonder that the collapsing under so many feet is so elusive. Don't bother replying as I'm not interested in any more of your thoughts.

[Pavulon]

8. I posted a direct link to the basis of my assumptions

that people who are not trained in industrial agricultural operations can not just make it work. That is why Zimbabwe went from a net exporter of grain to an imported in about two years..

Why post on a message board if you are not interested ion others thoughts?

[Judi Lynn]

7. Are you saying you worked in Zimbabwe, or Ronald Larsen?

If you are saying it was Larsen, I'd have to insist Larsen was a Peace Corp worker in Bolivia for one year, and immediately became the owner of a ranch, followed by others.

More information on Larsen from earlier thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3274980

[Peace Patriot]

3. "'Ronald Larsen is the owner...and we worship him,' the children sang." !!

Further down in the article...

Larsen, who bought Caraparicito in 1969, has about 11,500 head of cattle, hundreds of buffalo and even a few ostriches.

"This is paradise," said John Parra, the teacher at the one-room ranch school. He asked his students to sing a song.

"Caraparicito is a beautiful place ... Ronald Larsen is the owner of this ranch and we worship him," the children sang. --Reuters

------------------

Naw, there ain't no slavery on that ranch!

[Judi Lynn]

6. Information from earlier thread on Larsen:

Bolivia seeks charges against Montana rancher, son
Posted on April 19
By DAN KEANE of the Associated Press

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Bolivia’s government is seeking to charge a rancher from Montana and his son n a former Mr. Bolivia pageant winner n for their alleged role in violent protests against President Evo Morales’ land redistribution plan.

Ronald Larsen, of Plentywood, who has extensive land holdings in Bolivia, and his son Duston are named in a criminal complaint for “sedition, robbery, and other crimes.” The complaint was announced on Friday by Deputy Minister of Land Alejandro Almaraz.

Ronald Larsen is accused of firing on Almaraz’s vehicle and holding the minister hostage as he tried to carry out a government inspection of Larsen’s Bolivian ranch on February 29. The Larsens are also accused of leading a protest last week in the nearby town of Cuevo that left some 40 people injured.

Prosecutors will now decide whether to file charges against the pair. Neither could be immediately be reached for comment, and it was unclear if they had hired a lawyer.

More:
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/04/19/bnews/br72.txt

Much more information on Larsen in earlier D.U. thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3274980

[Judi Lynn]

9. The face of white separatism in Bolivia

The face of white separatism in Bolivia
April 27, 2008

This is not a new story, and in the context of repressive oligarchy it’s frankly a really old one. What is new, is that this may be the only readable English translation of the report that originally appeared at Bolpress on April 5, 2008. Democratic Underground was all over the story, but had to rely on a Google translation.

There are several interesting aspects to the story. One is that in the version that appeared in the mainstream press, Ronald Larsen claimed that Bolivia’s Vice Minister for agrarian reform showed up at his ranch at 3 in the morning, drunk, and because Larsen didn’t know who he was, he shot out the tire on the Vice Minister’s car to “shut him up.” Of course this fanciful version leaves out a few details, such as the 24 foot trailer he parked on the road (among other things) to block the Vice Minister’s entrance, and the brazen attack on the 80 or so people who accompanied the Vice Minister. Larsen may have to go back to Montana and see if he can figure out how to make a living when he has to pay his “employees” a living wage.

Which brings us to the second interesting aspect. There are reportedly 12 Bolivian families living on Larsen’s pleasure ranch. Depending on the source, they are either indentured servants with no hope of escape, or happy little Bolivian campers. Judging by the nature of a boss who settles arguments at gunpoint, Machetera will leave you to draw your own conclusions. Certainly one has to wonder about what Larsen didn’t want the Vice Minister to see.

His connection with the CIA Peace Corps is naturally a bit foggy. This report associates him rather directly with the Peace Corps, albeit 40 years ago. Other reports claim that his first trip to Bolivia in 1968 was in the company of a former Peace Corps volunteer who he’d known at the University of Montana. His son, Duston (sic) who is a large landowner in his own right, won the Mr. Bolivia beauty pageant in 2004, which speaks volumes about those who are in a position to judge such things.

More:
http://machetera.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/the-face-of-white-separatism-in-bolivia/



Ronald Larsen and his sonny boy, Mr. Bolivia 2004,
Mr. Larsen's pride and joy, little Duston