An analysis of the Bolivian land reform by means of a comparison between Peruvian haciendas and Bolivian ex-haciendas

In April of 1952, the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, seized power in Bolivia and in August of the following year passed the Decreto de la Reforma Agraria and proceeded to redistribute the land of the latifundios to the former Indian laborers. This paper intends to analyze the economic and socio-economic consequences of this Bolivian revolutionary land redistribution by means of a comparative study of Peruvian haciendas and Bolivian ex-haciendas in the Lake Titicaca region. The present study will follow the plan thus indicated. The first section introduces the subject of land reform with a review of the literature and the description of a land reform situation. The second provides background to the Bolivian land reform. The third and fourth describe the area of study am the research methods used. The fifth and sixth sections analyze the Bolivian land reform by comparing haciendas and ex-haciendas in the Lake Titicaca region. The seventh section gives the analysis a national perspective by briefly investigating the impact of the land reform upon Bolivia\u27s major agricultural regions. The last section summarizes the findings of this comparative study and attempts an evaluation of the Bolivian land reform