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LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - The Bolivian government on Thursday began legal proceedings to seize the vast landholdings of a prominent opposition leader, saying the property was fraudulently obtained and should be given to a local Indian tribe.
Soybean oil magnate Branko Marinkovic, an outspoken critic of President Evo Morales, says the 64,250 acres targeted by the government were obtained legally and are being used productively for ranching and agriculture — and that the fraud allegations are merely a political attack.
Morales pushed through a sweeping land reform bill in November granting his government power to seize idle or ill-gotten land. He has pledged to redistribute 77,000 square miles — an area slightly smaller than Nebraska — among the country's long-oppressed Indian majority during the next five years.
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