Brazil, facing tension with Bolivia over the latter's land
reform, said Thursday it would take no action if the reform leads
to the confiscation of soybean farms owned by Brazilian
citizens.
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the government could do
nothing should Bolivia confiscate the farms in its northern regions
of Pando and Beni.
Amorim made the remarks before leaving for Asuncion, the capital
of Paraguay, to discuss issues concerning South American Common
Market.
"That is their land. It is a question of sovereignty. What we
can (do) is ask them to treat respectfully Brazilians who own
productive properties in Bolivia," he said.
The response came after Bolivia's House of Representatives on
Monday approved a bill in favor of cultivating organic agricultural
products to replace crops grown in agribusiness.
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The bill was part of an agrarian reform plan that President Evo
Morales had defended in his electoral campaign in 2005.
Morales' reform plans have caused the concern of the Brazilian
Foreign Ministry because they have an impact on Brazilians who
produce soybeans in Bolivia, close to the border between the two
countries, and whose farms represent about 60 percent of Bolivia's
soybean exports.
This could be the second impasse between Brazil and Bolivia
since Morales was elected as the first indigenous leader in
January. In May, his government nationalized the country's oil and
gas reserves. That policy affected Brazil's state-owned company
Petrobras, which ran refineries and exploitation units in Bolivia
as well as imported natural gas from the neighboring country.
(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2006)
