Venezuelan Land Redistribution's Success And Violence

"Chávez is carrying out what may become the largest forced land redistribution in Venezuela's history, building utopian farming villages for squatters, lavishing money on new cooperatives and sending army commando units to supervise seized estates in six states."

"The violence has gone both ways in the struggle, with more than 160 peasants killed by hired gunmen in Venezuela, including several here in northwestern Yaracuy State, an epicenter of the land reform project, in recent years. Eight landowners have also been killed here."

"Supporters have formed thousands of state-financed cooperatives to wrest farms and cattle ranches from private owners. Landowners say compensation is hard to obtain. Local officials describe the land seizures as paving stones on 'the road to socialism.'"

"Before the land reform started in 2002, an estimated 5 percent of the population owned 80 percent of the country's private land. The government says it has now taken over about 3.4 million acres and resettled more than 15,000 families."