LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP):
BOLIVIA'S LARGEST agri-business group said yesterday it would form 'self-defence' groups to defend land it fears the government will confiscate in a proposed reform meant to distribute land roughly twice the size of Portugal.
The National Farming Confederation said in a published statement that it rejected the President Evo Morales' agrarian policy and said he "was trying to destroy the country's productive apparatus."
The group did not detail what they meant by 'self-defence' groups, but in other parts of Latin America, the term has been used to describe armed citizens groups.
The Morales administration rejected the idea.
"The government cannot accept their announcement because these groups are illegal and border on being criminal," said Alfredo Rada, a deputy minister in charge of coordinating between the Government and the country's civil organisations.
