Land Law Sparks Outrage
The law that drove Palomequi and hundreds of others to march was passed in early April.
It allowed small family-owned plots, constitutionally protected from sale or seizure, to be converted into medium-sized holdings, exposing them to foreclosures and corporate buyouts.
Proponents argued it would help smallholders access formal financial systems. But Indigenous and peasant farmers feared it would lead to land dispossession and expand the agroindustry frontier.
"When a small property enters a free commercial land market, it turns into a financial asset," said Alcides Vadillo, regional director of Fundación Tierra.
"From that moment on, it can be traded, sold, divided up or foreclosed on."
Protests forced the government to repeal the law in May, with a replacement to be drafted later.
However, environmental economist Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas believes the damage is already done.
"In 10 years, you will see that the small properties that have been converted to medium properties have had higher rates of deforestation."
The marches occurred against a backdrop of unprecedented agroindustry influence in the government.
The former president of Anapo, a powerful soya and wheat producers' association, now leads the development planning and environment ministry.
The former president of the CAO, another agribusiness lobby, was appointed minister of productive, rural and water development.
Previous leftist administrations were also friendly to agribusiness, but now corporate agroindustry does not need to negotiate with the government.
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"They are the government," Czaplicki Cabezas said.
