Friday, December 16, 2011

Land ownership bill passed at the Lower House

The land ownership bill, a legislation aimed at restricting foreign ownership of rural land, was approved by the Lower House early on Friday with 153 in favour and 26 against the new law. The bill now moved to the Senate.

Pro-government lawmaker Luis Cigogna rejoiced over the new bill passed in a marathon session in the early hours of today. "They are not a xenophobic statement, ” he stressed.

“It is not aimed towards the discrimination of foreigners, it is about preserving a strategic and renewable resource for Argentines,” he stressed.

“We are thinking about the our country’s food supply sovereignty, the future of our children,” Cigogna added.

The bill was an important proposal for the government. So relevant that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner herself made an appeal to get it approved on the inauguration speech for her second term last Saturday.

“It is the first step in the battle against foreign land concentration,” Radical Party congressman Pablo Orsolini said.

The proposal was cleared for debate by the House’s Committees on Tuesday. The initiative establishes that the acquisition of land by foreign investors can’t exceed a thousand acres of land, amongst other restrictions.