Peru is about to revolutionise its land laws. A new
agriculture law introduced,
on July 17 by the government eliminates all limits on
land-holding throughout the
nation. it sweeps away the
last remnants of the "land
reform" law imposed 27
years ago by the erstwhile
left-wing military regime
of General Juan Velasco Alvardo.
By ushering in these
changes the government
hopes to pave the way for
largescale investment in high
value agro-industrial products for export - particularly in the 2800-krn long
coastal strip. Some Congressmen are, skeptical
about the move. They fear
that the new law may mark the return of the dreaded latifundios (great estates employing semi-feudal labour).
But Carlos Torres y
Torres, vice president of the
Congress and the chief proponent of the new law is not
about to brook any opposition. "It is shameful that only
6 per cent of potentially cultivable land is currently
utilised. With modern technology and this new law we
can develop productive land
in a better manner," he said.
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