Guatemala Farmers Want Reform
Guatemala s indigenous and farmer groups Wednesday called an International Conference on Integral Agrarian Reform, to be held October 10-12 in this capital.

"We consider that agrarian reform is necessary to solve the conflict in the agricultural sector," said to Prensa Latina the leader of the National Farmers Organization Organizing Committee, Leocadio Juracan.

The farm activist explained that Guatemala has one of the world s least unfair distribution systems and the second most unequal in Latin America, since 2 percent of the population owns 70 percent of land suitable for growing.

According to Juracan, not only a redistribution of the land is needed as soon as possible, but also a technical assistance and financial investment to develop the agriculture of subsistence.

Among the Guatemalan population 57 percent is currently living in poverty and 27 of them live in extreme poverty, while the government refuses to meet the farmers demands, said Juracan.