An Evaluation of Planned Settlement in the Bolivian Tropics: The 1974 Plans

In the early 1960's Bolivia made the first set of attempts at colonization of the lowlands, or Oriente, lying east of the Andes. This effort was largely in response to events that had taken place earlier in the century, namely the Chaco War, the Social Revolution of 1952 and the collapse of the mining economy.1 Colonization schemes were implemented in an attempt to provide enough land for the people, increase opportunities for displaced miners, and to promote national unity by settling the eastern areas of the nation.2 The early colonization projects were concentrated in two areas -the Alto Beni (east of La Paz), and Chapare-Chimore (east of Cochabamba) -and were financed as a joint endeavor by the Bolivian government, USAID and the Inter-American Development Bank. These were large scale projects with the executing agency, the Corporacion Boliviano de Fomento surveying resources, drawing up plans, building roads, supervising resettlement and maintaining considerable control over the colonization process. In 1965 a special agency, the Instituto Nacional de Colonizacion (INC) was set up to deal specifically with colonization.