ABSTRACT
In an effort to offset demographic pressures being experienced in the highlands, the Bolivian government secured international loans from the United States, West Germany, and the Interamerican Development Bank to begin colonization of its lowland territories. Three zones in the Bolivian Amazon were designated for settlement: the Alto Beni, east of the national capital, La Paz; the Chapare, east of Cochabamba; and the Yapacaní, northwest of the lowland city of Santa Cruz. The frequent emphasis on stabilizing initial settlers on the land can be attributed to a lack of understanding by many observers of the true role colonization plays in lowland frontier expansion. The conversion of forest to pasture, or the commercialization of land occupied by the slash-and-burn horticulturalist, inexorably pushes the subsistence agriculturalist farther into the wilderness. In Bolivia, there is mounting concern that the effects of the 1953 Agrarian Reform Law may be nullified as more land is consolidated into large holdings for commercial agriculture.
