Article: Venezuelan government declares large ranch state land

ALICE M. CHACON, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
03-23-2005
Dateline: CARACAS, Venezuela
Venezuela's government declared a vast cattle ranch to be state land and began handing out permits for poor farmers to keep working on lands also claimed by a British-owned company, officials said.

The government move Tuesday at El Charcote ranch in the central state of Cojedes marked a significant step in a land reform effort that President Hugo Chavez has called a "war on large estates."

Holding a ceremony at the ranch, Agriculture Minister Antonio Albarran and other officials declared the ranch is now officially under state control, said Carlos Espina, a spokesman for the state governor's office.

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