| Members of the Bolivian Senate have ended a | | | | opposed by large landowners from Bolivia's eastern |
| week-long boycott and approved President Evo | | | | agricultural region of Santa Cruz. The landowners fear |
| Morales' controversial plan to redistribute land to the | | | | the government will confiscate their property. But Mr. |
| nation's landless poor. | | | | Morales says only unproductive land held by wealthy |
| The plan was approved Tuesday night when three | | | | families will be redistributed to the poor. |
| opposition senators voted with 12 senators from the | | | | The president, Bolivia's first indigenous head of state, |
| president's ruling Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) | | | | campaigned on promises to redistribute the wealth |
| party. | | | | from the nation's vast natural resources. He issued a |
| The vote came after thousands of Bolivia's indigenous | | | | decree in May of this year to nationalize Bolivia's oil |
| Indians marched on the capital city of La Paz to | | | | and gas fields. He told the Indians who marched on La |
| support the measure. Many of them had marched for | | | | Paz that he would issue a similar decree if the boycott |
| several weeks across several hundred kilometers. | | | | continued in the Senate. |
| Conservative lawmakers walked out of the Senate | | | | Some information for this report was provided by |
| chamber last week to block the reform, which is | | | | AFP, AP and Reuters. |