UN General Assembly
1954

30. On 2 August 1953 the Legislative Decree on Land Reform was enacted to amend the semi-feudal conditions under which land was worked, and it was immediately put into effect: plots of land which peasants under the old system had been allowed to cultivate in exchange for various unpaid services became the property of those who cultivated them. The same decree further provided that wages must be paid to the peasants for the work they did on the land which remained in the possession of the former owner. Once the peasants had become the owners of the land, their efforts exceeded all expectations: the last harvest, the first since the land reform, greatly exceeded previous ones. Thus the facts have given the lie to the pessimistic predictions of certain reactionary circles in the continent as to the results of Bolivia’s land reform, and have even contradicted the experience of other countries.