48 12 1190 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/d9b303caf3a0084f54645e4c5781b2bb.pdf a596ce0fa95529966f4e4c3998f4a712 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 6, No. 3 (18).pdf PDF Text Text 5 1a D~ODD~~ ~~OD cS~~CP[]:0 ~rn~ovrnm.0 ~rnrnu "Nearly 150 Indian leaders from the La Paz provinces came together in a planning and consciousness-raising meeting to consolidate the Assembly ofNationalities," reported Zenobio Quispe, permanent secretary of the Federation of Campesino Worlcers of La Paz (Tupaj Katari). During the event, campesinos of La Paz, struggling for unity, reiterated the need to establish their own political party and assembly of nationalities, and determined thatthelndirufeonfederationshould be formed, under its own laws, and its own political constitution "until Aymara, Quechua, Guaranies and other nationalities assume power." The participants reject the celebration of the quincentennial because Oct. 12 is a dateofpain and mourning forcampesinos and Indians of the continent. For this reason, they will demonstrate with a reaffirmation of their cultural identities and 18 ~ against ethnocide, genocide, and the destruction of cultural values. Ideological Unity The participants will ask professionals committed to the cause of Native peoples for their support in creating documents and school texts, both historical and othexwise, which will encourage Native cultural values. "This first meeting has been positive, because with the initiativeofthecampesino and Indian authorities, we have accepted the responsibility of strengthening our organizations," said the Director of Tupaj Katari attheconclusionofthemeeting. He indicates that the most important step is to organize because the Indian, campesino, worker, and popularmovementshave been weakened in the current political climate. "In spite of the adverse situation, campesinos and Indians have accepted the great challenge of establishing the assem- ~CQ) ~~ CP~~ bly ofnationalities and a political party, to provideanaltemativeforthemarginalized and oppressed sectors of Bolivia." Seventh Congress The seventh congress of the Federation of Campesino Workers of La Paz (fupaj Katari) will be held Dec. 20-22. At this event the Federation will discuss the situation of the campesinos, who categorically reject property taxes and demand that the government fulfill the numerous obligations it has made to agricultural workers. The Federation of Campesinos of La Paz, which seems to be consolidating itself after several actions which were interrupted by official militants, "has decided to fmm anew pluralist executive committee, but only with leaders who fight for the people and not with those who have sold out to the oligarchy's parties." Source: Semanario Aqui [Chuquiyawu, Bolivia] SAIIC Newsletter � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 6, No. 3 (Spring and Summer 1992) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource In Search of Unity: Indian and Campesino Leaders Meet in La Paz (Bolivia) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title In Search of Unity: Indian and Campesino Leaders Meet in La Paz (Bolivia) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, No. 3 (18).pdf https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/9b08540a75d188195867692ac5ffb6af.pdf 59a6cba1ca086514cca4347f5cab0762 PDF Text Text America. We are united with them in the Spirit of Life." In spirit with my Brothers and Sisters, K'uu yaa Tsa-wa Journey to the South will be printed in its entirety in Native Self-Sufficiency (Vol. 8, no. 2, April 1986), P.O. Box 10, Forestville, CA 95436, or may be ordered from SAIIC. (See order form on page 19.) "Tejido de los Desaparecidos" silkscreen. © 1984 Ester Hernandez Inauguration Day In uatemala Bruce Curtis, who works with the organization Plenty (651 Santa Ray, Oakland, CA 94610, 415-465-1328) arrived in Guatemala in February this year as part of the Central Amer. ica Peace March, which began in Panama in December, 1985. In this report, Bruce describes some of what he found in Guatemala the day the new civilian president Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo was inaugurated. I went to visit a Mayan friend, Jose Poaquil (not his real name) who lives in Guatemala City. Jose is a traditional Mayan who is careful to keep a low profile because of the heightened persecution which traditional Mayans have experienced in Guatemala since 1980. I asked Jose what he thought about the new civilian government. He said only time would tell, but that he was cautiously optimistic, a view I heard repeatedly during my stay in the country. While the entire city was distracted by the inauguration ceremonies, Jose and I drove outside the city limits to visit a refugee camp. It was a camp mostly for Mayan peasants who had left their highland villages and come down to the city looking for safety and work. On the way we rode through a middle class suburb that bordered a large, flat empty tract of land that was being prepared for another suburban housing development. The lots were sectioned off and the street signs were in place. Suddenly, we noticed hundreds of people streaming onto this empty tract, and in their midst we could see held high the bright green flag of the newly-elected Christian Democratic Party. Later we would learn that it was a land invasion by homeless refugees who intended to build shacks and squat on this unused plot of ground. The land belongs to the government of Guatemala. Vol. 2, no. 3. Spring, 1986. Published quarterly by SAIIC © 1986 Page4 �During the next several days about 18 similar invasions took place around Guatemala City. The landowners, banks, and newspapers called for the protection of private property. Eventually, the new president ordered the police to evict all the squatters. The press hailed the peacefulness of the evictions as a new chapter in the relationship between the government and the people in Guatemala, but a few days later at least one paper reported that 15 people who had participated in the invasions had disappeared without a trace. Just beyond the tract of land being invaded by squatters was the refugee settlement. There were many hundreds of small, poorly-constructed shacks set out in orderly rows along a ridge and atop a wide plateau. Jose pointed out the different Indians in the encampment who had come here from many parts of the country. Most of the people were wearing very little of their traditional garments. During the preceding 5 years, the most intense period of the army's anti-guerrilla campaigns across rural Guatemala, it had become dangerous to be identified as an Indian. People left their traditional clothes behind when they abandoned their villages. Now, too, it is a lot cheaper to buy western, polyester shirts made in Taiwan and Korea than to purchase thread and weave traje. We didn't stay long in the camp. Jose was worried that an informer would spot us and take down the license number of the car. On our way back to the city we stopped to visit another household which Jose helps to maintain. Here, eight Indian orphan children were living. We approached cautiously, parking around the corner and entering separately. There was a bedroom with three beds constructed of boards laid over cement blocks. The kitchen was used for storage because they didn't have a stove or refrigerator. The children were sent out to families in the neighborhood to eat. The largest room contained three old sewing machines, a bundle of material and some newly-finished shirts and bags. Jose introduced me to an eight-year-old girl whose parents had been killed only a few months earlier. She called Jose father now. The women were widows. Their husbands had also been killed. Now they support themselves, what is left of their families, and these orphans by making clothes. These children are being raised in accordance with their culture. Many thousands of Mayan orphans have been placed by the government with Ladino families who tend to use them as servants. Jose talked often about the great number of Indian families, and especially the children, who are fast losing their cultural and spiritual identity. I asked him how many Mayans he thought still practice in the old religious ways. He said maybe 30 or 40 percent. Under the military governments, Indians were forbidden to visit their sacred places or to publicly practice their religious ceremonies. Some nearby volcanos are considered sacred and people sometimes travel to them in secret, but if they are found out, they might be accused of being guerrillas. To worship at home is also dangerous. You might be denounced by an envangelical for practicing witchcraft if the odor of incense is detected in your house. Vol. 2, no. 3. Spring, 1986. Published quarterly by SAIIC © 1986 PageS � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 2, No. 3 (Spring 1986) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Inauguration Day in Guatemala Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 1986 Zotero Title Inauguration Day in Guatemala Item Type Journal Article Attachment Title Vol. 2, no. 3 (4-5).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note An articular on the Inauguration day in Guatemala. Issue 3 Language English Pages 4-5 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 2 Guatemala Jose Poaquil Mayan refugee https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/70d907563223d2f453d95c776072228a 2081fdbb2695396a8b649c5c012bc1ea Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 4 (32-33, 35).pdf PDF Text Text Hu M A N RiGHTS ver the last few decades, Indigenous peoples have been successful in impacting United Nations (UN) decisions by creating activities therein. Forming these activities within the UN system has allowed Indigenous peoples to influence the decision making processes, and move away from being the objects of discussions to being voices in these debates pertaining to their rights. The first dramatic change began to occur in the 1960's, when Indigenous peoples began to organize themselves and began asserting their ideas about their rights to self determination. In the 1970's, with the support of various nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) and a number of international conferences, Indigenous peoples continued to forge a pan-Indigenous movement to fight for their rights of survival. The 1977 International NGO Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, organized by the NGO Sub-Committee on Racism, Radical Discrimirl'ation, Apartheid and 32 Colonialism, was a real turning point in Indigenous activities within the United Nations. Indigenous leaders became versed in the myriad ways to access the UN bodies. UN legislation permits NGO's to create activities within the UN-system, especially within the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) system. However, the national governments within the ECOSOC must first grant these organizations a consultative status. At this point, no Indigenous organization has been successful in obtaining such a consultative relationship with the ECOSOC. Because these NGO's represent peoples who aren't represented by the national governments of the countries in which they live, governments are often anxious about the influence of these organizations. Since it is only national governments who vote on the granting of consultative status, it's almost impossible for Indigenous NGO's to obtain such a formal free-ticket to develop activities at all ECOSOC levels. As of now, Indigenous organizations' only means of access is· to be represented by an organi- zation that has consultative status. In practice, Indigenous representatives therefor often rely on human rights NGO's. To defend their rights at an international level, Indigenous peoples have to find other ways to participate in the UN decision making processes on issues that concern them. In addition to their participatory role in the drafting process of the International Labor Organization's Convention 169 and other international conventions and conferences, Indigenous peoples have developed activities in relation to the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP). With their presence at international NGO Conferences ('77/'81), Indigenous representatives called attention to their desperate living conditions, their struggle to survive as communities, and their under representation in the processes that formulate the standards incorporating their rights. This heightened awareness within the international community led the UN Continue on page 33 Abya Yala News �HU Subcommission on Human Rights (Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) to recommend that the UN Commission on Human Rights and the ECOSOC establish a working group on Indigenous peoples' rights in which Indigenous peoples themselves participate. Since 1982 the WGIP has been holding its annual meeting in Geneva at the end of July, just before the session of the Subcommission on Human Rights. Consisting of five experts, the Working Group has a dual mandate consisting of the study of problems confronting Indigenous peoples and the elaboration of international standards for Indigenous rights. At every session, hundreds of Indigenous representatives are present to participate in the drafting of these standards. The WGIP focuses on Indigenous intellectual property rights as well as on a comprehensive investigation of the treaties that exist between states and Indigenous peoples. The fact that Indigenous peoples from around the world, NGO's, specialized UN agencies and governments are all free to participate in the Working Group's open meetings makes it an excellent forum for multilateral discussions and exchanges of information between these diverse groups. In 15 years, the WGIP has made an enormous contribution to the development of standards dealing with the rights of Indigenous peoples. Perhaps their most consequential project is the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, created by and for Indigenous peoples. In 1993, the WGIP adopted the completed draft of the declaration, which was unanimously approved by the experts of the Subcommision on Human Rights in August 1994. This approval is extremely significant because it acknowledges that a higher impartial UN organ of human rights experts has accepted the special competence of the WGIP to create their own proposals concerning their own rights. And whereas the text of the Declaration is not as strong as a declaration drafted solely by Indigenous participants would be, it constitutes standards for Indigenous rights (including political autonomy, control over resources, and land rights) that are more satisfactory Vol. 10 No.4 than the ones in ILO Convention 169, although as a declaration and not a treaty it will never be binding. M A N RIGHTS Indigenous Peoples. With no Coordinator to apply to, is now very vague how Indigenous organizations are to gain access to the working group. The Declaration is now being negotiated by a special inter-sessional working group of the Commission on Human Rights. The Commission is a human rights organ above the Subcommission consisting of state representatives. The Declaration has thereby begun its tortuous passage from the expert bodies up to the highly politicized realm of the UN. Here the draft will probably be amended and then pass through the ECOSOC to the General Assembly of the UN for final approval. In addition to impacting the UN decision making process on the Draft Declaration, the activities of Indigenous peoples in the WGIP also had an affect on the General Assembly's proclamation of the International Decade for Indigenous Peoples in 1993 and its consequences. After this proclamation, many Indigenous speakers at the WGIP asked for a deadline for adopting the Declaration during the Decade. In addition, many speakers urged the UN to take more operational measures and to show Like the ECOSOC, the working group stronger political commitment to a perof the Commission on Human manent forum for Indigenous THE FACT THAT Rights is open to human peoples. rights NGO's with a consultaINDIGENOUS tive status, but initially not to The debates in the WGIP on PEOPLES FROM In Indigenous NGO's. the forum show that the AROUND THE response to Indigenous peoexamination of this question WORLD, NGO'S, ples' demand that they be preis making some progress. In sent at any attempt to define 1996, most Indigenous peoSPECIALIZED UN their rights, the Commission ples agreed that the forum AGENCIES AND introduced the possibility of should not replace the WGIP, GOVERNMENTS but should be a high level participation for Indigenous organizations. The process for ARE ALL FREE TO body within the ECOSOCPARTICIPATE IN application however is long system with a wide mandate. and complicated. The At the latest meeting of the THE WORKING WGIP in July 1997, Indigenous organization or GROUP'S OPEN representative must apply to MEETINGS MAKES Indigenous delegations recthe Coordinator of the ommended to the experts International Decade for IT AN EXCELLENT that the forum should be on Indigenous Peoples. The the same level as the FORUM FOR Coordinator consults the state Commission of Human MULTILATERAL government of the concerned DISCUSSIONS AND Rights, and that it should organization, and then forconsist of Indigenous repreEXCHANGES OF wards the information to the sentatives, state representaINFORMATION UN Committee on NGOs in tives and representatives of New York. It is this body THESE specialized UN agencies, all which has the power to DIVERSE GROUPS. with an equal right to particdecide which Indigenous ipate. Every six months, in organizations are allowed to attend the February and July, the forum should meet working group of the Commission on in Geneva, and discuss all Indigenous Human Rights. With 87 out of a 112 issues. These recommendations are now applications approved, it seems that the being negotiated by the Subcommission possibility would now exists for some on Human Rights. Furthermore, wider participation of Indigenous repre- Resolutions have been put forward in the sentatives in the work of the General Assembly concerning the Decade Commissions' working group. However, and the possible establishment of this governments often don't recognize these permanent forum. The issue was also disIndigenous organizations, rendering the cussed at special workshops in whole process of application useless. In Copenhagen ('95) and Santiago ('97). addition, recent UN reorganization has put an end to the position of Coordinator On the whole, the number of UNof the International Decade for meetings and activities of concern to Continue on page 35 33 j �------------------------ H ---------- Continued from page 33 Indigenous peoples has expanded substantially within the last few years. In March 1996, the above mentioned Indigenous subjects and activities were an agenda item at a meeting of the Commission on Human Rights, for the first time in the relationship between the world's Indigenous peoples and the UN. Conclusion The WGIP has become a vast forum of Indigenous peoples. The impact of this group cannot be doubted, as the question of Indigenous peoples is now solidly attached to the list of UN concerns (for example, see the 1993 General Assembly proclamation of the International Decade for Indigenous Peoples). Such success has woken up some sleeping national governments. At the level of the Commission on Human Rights, the Draft Declaration prepared by the WGIP was the subject of detailed examination, and it is feared that several essential provisions adopted by the WGIP and the Subcommission on Human Rights will be modified restrictively The fact that the WGIP is at the bottom of the UN hierarchy makes the success a bit of an illusion. Within the UN, governments decide, which makes it necessary for Indigenous peoples to gain access to the higher UN fora. Hence the debate on the creation of a permanent forum. Action must not be limited to the level of the WGIP Gains need to be consolidated. Over the last thirty years, Indigenous peoples have successfully challenged the derogatory procedures that have characterized the past, and have made great strides in having their exis- U M A N RIGHTS tence, as distinct, independent cultures with special concerns, acknowledged by the world's most powerful international bodies. Their mobilization and dedication has led to significant changes in the way their issues are addressed and acted upon, but there is still a lot to be done before Indigenous peoples hold real positions of power at the higher levels of the UN system. In the WGIP, Indigenous peoples need to focus on the strategies that need to be developed to have an impact at all levels of UN decision making in the future ..... Information from: IWGIA (International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs), The International Service for Human Rights, Nilo Cayuqueo, Sharon H. Venne. For more information concerning the consultative relationship between the UN and NGO's see: ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31 South Am.erican Explorers Club The best source of information and advice for travel in Latin knerica 126 Indian Creek Roacl, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA Tel (607) 271-0488 F"" (601} 217-6122 e-mail explorer@Nmexplo.org http>//ww.u.... mexplo.org The SAEC is a non-profit organization The Native Monthly Reader A scholarly newspaper for young adults !Jf.l-r(q(invitesyou to su6scri6e for1our sclioo~ cfassfoom, B6rary, orJatm{y. The Native Monthly Reader is published throughout the school year, (Oct.- May), and is designed for the middle and high school grade level. This publication is breaking the resistance to muti-ethnic and ethnic-specific curricula in the educational system. Join us in 6ritfg_ing cross-cu(turaf understandingfor toaays youth aru£ thefuture. Eight Issues: US$18-Single; $60-10 per mo. $110-20 per mo.; $150-30 per mo. Apubijcaflonol RedSun Institute P.O. Box 122 • Crestone, CO 81131 (7 19) 256-4848 Phone/Fax Vol. 10 No.4 Featuring direded by arwtnamu Fantasy Songs from IN AN EFFORT TO HElP THE YANOMAMIINDIANS OF Blb\ZIL RECLAIM THEIR LAND fROM GOLD MINERS ~ 'i'he Roxie Cinema, San Frandsco * tursday, October 23, 1997, 7:00pm* : $10 donation at !he door* Proceeds from the evening go directly to support the Yanomomi * ~ Tickets available of Modern Times Bookstore * Info: 415-398·4409 or visit: www.amazonjournol.com 0~ * * * * 35 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 4 (Fall 1997) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indegenous peoples at the United Nations: How much influence do we have? Type The nature or genre of the resource Magazine Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Indegenous peoples at the United Nations: How much influence do we have? Item Type Magazine Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 4 (32-33, 35).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 4 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note Indigenous communities have had an increasing amount of influence in the UN, encouraging change within the international community. However, more could be done, leading many to suggest the creation of a permanent forum. Pages 32-33, 35 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/4a8ab078bc556af5ec15f82ed169ab64.pdf 9b336152c9877ef041fcbeb59da1134a PDF Text Text I N B R I E F_ _ ,_,_ Indian Communities Trapped by Ecuador-Peru Border Conflict fighting erupted between the Peruvian and Ecuadorian armies in a disputed Amazon border region ~long the Cenepa River valley on jan. 26. What looked at first like an isolated border skirmish has escalated into an intense conOict F At a press conference concluding their visit. the commission announced that the govemment could St<tnd in \'io1ation of the right to life and well·being as a result of oil pollution in the Amazon. t\ final repon on the visit has yet to be released. For more info,.matwn. coruacr: with at leasl 47 dead and 94 wounded combatants. The Sierra Qub l..tgal Dtj01S< Fund. /80 Montgomery St.. Suire HOO. S<ln Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) demanded a cease fire on Jan. 3 1. stating that. "'more than 300 communities a.re located in the zone of mili· FranclS<o, CA 9410-1, (415) 627·6700. FGX: (-liS) 62i·6i40, email: scldjsj@igc.copc.org. tary connic.t, these Indigenous cornmunilies that have nol Peruvian Indian Communities File Suit Against Texaco n December 29. a class action la,vsuit \I/3S filed in feder- been auended by either the government of Peru or of Ecuador". An unknown number of Indian residents of the region have been displaced from their communities. despite calls by CONAIE for the governments to respect the lives and territo· ry of Indigenous peoples. The war is reportedly costing each side overS 10 million a day. and has heated up with bombings on each side of the border and the downing of several Peruvian planes and a helicopter. Ecuador accepted a CCtlSC· fire mediation offer from former US president Jimmy C:mer and former COSta Rica president Oscar Arias. but Pcno declined to comment on the offer. OAS Commission Investigates Ecuadorian Human Rights Violations or yem'S. Indigenous organizations in the Ecuadorian Fmassive oilh•we suffered hum-an rightsb}'violations asmultina· Amazon a resuh or dC\'Cloptnem carried US-based OUl tiona! corporations and the Ecuadorian government within their territories. The struggle to resolve these problems hit a turning point on Nov. 7 when the Org...'\nit3tion of American Sunes· spe(:ial commission on hun'la.n rights arrh•ed in Ecuador to investigate human rights abuses in that country. Although the commission framed its visit as a general investigation of the human rights situation in Ecuador. the impact of oil development on Indigenous peoples was one of O al coun in New York on behalf of 20.000 Indigenous people !hong on and around the Napo River in the nonheast Peruvian Amazon. The suit charges that mismanaged Texaco activities within Ecuador, along the upper ~ches or the Napo River, caused severe damage to the lnditms' w3y of life in Peru- damage due to the release of huge amoums of toxic chemicals. and to repeated oil spills. This case follows a ground-breaking victory by Ecuadorian Indian organizations in the spring of 1994, when a New York coun held that Texaco could be held liable in US couns for their actions in Ecuador. The Peruvian suit charges Lhat ··texaco deliberately ignored reasonable and S<lfe practices and treated the pristine Amazon roin forest ... :md its people as a toxic waste dump... lt runhcr contends that over 400 flawed well sites were built. despite Texaco's full knowledge that they would ·rcsuh in SC\'Cre spills and environmental damages. The Ecuadorian governmem estimates that Texaco spilled 16.8 million gallotlS of crude oil and oil residues in its Amazonian provinces. with an unknov.m portion winding up downriver in Peru. As recently as J992. the Peruvian Rio Napo ran black with crude that had been released upstream . Irifonnati(}l1 I'YOYid<d by Edwatd f-lmnmcml.. two topics the Commission actually in\'cstigated (the other bemg the treatment of prisoners) . Half of the Commissions delegation traveled to the Oriente region. where they met with representatives from grassroots organizations and leaders or Lhe eoran and Siona·Secora tthnic groups. Commission members were appalled at Lhe impact of Texaco oil develop· ment on the envir onment. The Commission also mt:l with a Huaorani community from the Napo region who reponed on .J>ollution and the encroachment of colonists in their territory. In addition to meeting with state authorities, the Commission consulted environmental. human rights, and Indigenous organizations. including representatives from: CONAl E. CONFENIAE. COICA. ECUARUNARI, FICI, FOIN, and OINt\E. 4 Brazilian Senate Proposes Law Threatening Land Demarcation he Brazilian Stn..1te 3pproved a bill 3imed at eventually reducing existing 1ndian Areas within frontier zones. nnd T complicating the process of rmure demarcations. 10 become law. this bill will have to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the President of Lhe Republic. If approved. the btl! will put the already demarcated Yanomami Indian Area. located along the Venezuelan border, at risk of being reduced. The bill threatens not only the Yanomami. but would be a blow to all Indian peoples in Brazil. It is supported by CCO· nomic groups with a \'CSted intcr~t in exploiting the natural resources within the Indian Areas. as wen as cenain sectors or Abya Ya~ News � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 8, no. 4 (Winter 1994) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Communities Trapped by Ecuador-Peru Border Conflict Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Winter 1994 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Indian Communities Trapped by Ecuador-Peru Border Conflict Item Type Journal Article Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages 4 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter ISSN 1071-3182 Date Winter 1994 Language English Abstract Note More than 300 indigenous communities have been affected by military conflict taking place along the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border. Attachment Title Indian_communities_trapped_by.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] CONAIE Conflict Ecuador Peru https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/a5005ec9e15811e4cabcba065439c0d2.pdf 5fdce725d82f197bfdc626fbc262ac37 PDF Text Text "We Have An Educational System" The educational system that Indian people had before the Spanish came still exists today. It is an education for life that is lived daily through work, through example, through responsibility, and in the sustained identity of our people. We Indians are conscious that we have to educate the representatives of the government, especially those charged with what they call "informal education." We also have to educate our own teachers, many of whom are Indian, but who are now alienated from their identity as Indians. We expect a difficult task of reorienting many people's thinking. At the same time, we must systematize our own educational processes and establish guidelines. Then we have to think about modifying the existing educational system, starting from the very root, recognizing from the beginning the multinational, multilingual, and multicultural character of Peru. It is also necessary to have a form of education that rescues the knowledge of our elders, which is unfortunately now being lost as a result of formal education. The knowledge which our elders gained through thousands of years is now going to the grave with them. We must remember that this knowledge serves all of humanity if we keep it alive. We need to reform the educational institutions, the educational infrastructure, and the educational process. All of this is possible and necessary if we are going to thoroughly regain our form of Indian education, our identity, our personality, and to demonstrate that Western culture is not the only culture, or the best one for us. The work and the thoughts of our ancestors are an example for us all. -Published recently in Pueblo Indio (Av. Jose de Canterac 373,Jesus Maria, Lima 11, Peru), Vol. 2, no. 5, 1986. Indian Educational Priorities in Eastern Bolivia e The need for a recognition on the part of the national government that Indian cultures are a living expression of our people. e The need to maintain the cultural values of Indian people, recognizing that cultural identity is fundamental to the socio-economic development of peoples and communities. e The need for bilingual and bicultural education in the schools. e The need for training of Indian youth in technical skills in agriculture and stock raising, as veterinarians, as accountants for the consumer cooperative, as journalists, and as primary and secondary school teachers. • In 1987 CIDOB will support the training of three youth in agronomy, medicine, and veterinary medicine. e CIDOB supports the work of general education and literacy training as a means of raising consciousness, including the full participation of community members in this effort. CIDOB also recognizes the importance of strengthening traditional Indian organizations, structures, and processes. -Issued by the Indian Federation of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB), November, 1986. Vol. 3, no. 2. Winter, 1987. Page 13 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 3, No. 2 (Winter 1987) Zotero Language English Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Educational Priorities in Eastern Bolivia Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Winter 1987 Zotero Title Indian Educational Priorities in Eastern Bolivia Item Type Journal Article Attachment Title Vol. 3, no. 2 (13).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 2 Language English Pages 13 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 3 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/0e7692d40339767866721f5f2c85e2c4.pdf 1764fb562663c9bc2ed0fd2b88cefe96 PDF Text Text -,....,..~--------~----~---------- lnd ---~~--------------------~ psI eet From May 19 to 22, 1986, a meeting organized by the Center for Indian Communities and People of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB) was held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to discuss Indian land. Guarani, Chiquitano, Mojeiio, Ayorode, Mataco, and other Indian people live in this area of Bolivia near the border with Brazil. Among the participants in the meeting were the Farmworkers Union and the Federation of Women Farmworkers. The topics discussed included contradictions of the colonial process, such as market dependency; capitalist appropriation of Indian land as a basis for regional development; genocide; ethnocide; slavery; and destruction of the ecosystem. The conference concluded with a statement stressing the need to promote a multinational state where all social groups can participate in government decisions. It also called for a strategy of alternative economic development in which Indians will retain control of natural resources such as vegetation, minerals, and petroleum. PARAGUAY Resist Attack ite Colony Reports from Paraguay indicate that the Sommerfeld Mennonite colony has acquired title to land long occupied by Mbya Apytere Indians in the San Juan and Jaguary communities of the Caaguazu department. Maximo Gonzalez, Amselmo Miranda, and Juan Guato, leaders of the two communities, traveled to the capiARGENTINA tal, Asuncion, Saturday, July 19, 1986, to denounce the BRAZIL most recent acts of violence against their people. They reported that on repeated occasions and by a variety of violent means the Mennonites had tried to evict the Indian communities from their land, in total disregard for their legal rights, which are guaranteed in the Indian Communities Statute and confirmed by a ruling of the Villarrica district court issued January 10, 1984. As a consequence of his declarations to the press, Maximo Gonzalez was arrested. The violations of Indian rights include the complete deforestation of an area of woodlands totaling 40 hectares, situated within the traditional territory of the Mbya Apytere communities. The land is expressly protected by the January 10 ruling, which states, "Ordering the cessation of all threatening acts until an agreement has been reached between the Indian community, the administration authorities and the inhabitants of the Sommerfeld colony." However, neither the district police nor the Institute of Indian Affairs has made any effort to ensure that the ruling is respected. Declarations of support for the Mbya Apytere can be sent to the following officials: General German Martinez, Presidente, Instituto Paraguayo del Indigena, Avenida Don Bosco 745, casi Humaita, Asuncion, Paraguay. Willys Enns, Cooperativa Sommerfeld, Casilla de Correo 166, Asuncion, Paraguay. Vol. 3, no. 1. Fall, 1986. Page 9 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 3, No. 1 (Fall 1986) Zotero Language English Issue 1 Volume 3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Groups in Eastern Bolivia Meet Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1986 Zotero Title Indian Groups in Eastern Bolivia Meet Item Type Journal Article Attachment Title Vol. 3, no. 1 (9).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Issue 1 Volume 3 Language English Pages 9 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/49b1c128f192c809f5153ff2ae6b0315.pdf 89def9bb01ef68818cb245eae66c430c PDF Text Text 11'4 the mllillU)' who onsist th~t lndoan l•nds 111 the frontier zone thr-e:ucn nntlon:al security and tht: rnnintc:nancc: of Brazthan sovereignty. Tho$ erron by the Senate is one more obstacle to the already slow process of dcm~rcating Indian lands in Bmzil. According to the bill. future denmaotions would "'quorc the appro,'lll or the N•uon:tl Cong=. Addition~! provi.soon.s would require the Prau:itnt 10 consult ''ith th~ govemnttm of tM state in whoch the Indian Area is proposed Th- rules would make the dtn\.1n::lllOn of lndoan lands an)Where extremely diflkuh. 1f not Im pos>tble. BR I E f Indian Lands in US and Canada Targeted tor Nuclear Dumping uclcnr wnste produced throughout the Untted Statts could soon end up in the lands of the Meadow l..1kc Cree 1~escrve in Canada$ Saskatchewan provmce. tr plans under conslder:"tuon b)' tnbal c-ounca1s. nuclt~tr pow.:r compames N and gov~mment agtncits come to frunion. this would be 1hc "·lst• finol >top tn • long chain or nuclelr production and storage houstd on. or adjaeenl to. lndum bnds. The US Dcp>nment of Encr;y ond • potcntlO.I waste r<etpt<nt. Atomic Energy of Canoda LTD. uc consodenng construction or !\ pennanent nuclear wnstc dump on the From CIMI (lndrnn1U M1.$Swtr.a1y Co11rK10. Meadow l.,ke Cree Reserve. The Mcodow Lake Tribal Council hns supponed thts proposal. In their current l!<:onom1c lnttimives Report. the Council tout$ the dump as More of the Same Under Paraguay's an economic boon for the tribes 8.000 members. "Democratic" Government In promoting nuclear waste as the cure for econom1c nd~gCnO<lS peoples in Paraguay h.wc yet tO reap the benefits or dcmocmcy. which was restored m 198<} ~rter more th.•n titre<: tlls. th< Counctl follows in th< foototcps of the Mescalero cl=dcs of mdllllry diCt3lotShtp. Utde N5 ch;lngcd for Paroguays Tnb•l Counctl m New Mextc:o. whtch has olltred the hodlg<nous peoples smcc ~r:ll Allrcdo Su~r$ ovenhrow Mescalero r~r,~uon as 3 temporal)~ nucl.e3r sr:oragc snt m 1989.ln fact. rn>n)•orthecountlj~ lndogenousoommunhles In Feb. 1994. offictals of the Meadow L:tke Cree and the ""'" b«n fighnng mcrea.sed Jlr<SSUn'S to fore< them ollthetr C"..anadHm go,·cmment ,,sittd the Mesca1ero Reservalion. and arc reportedly working on an agreement \ltithin which lands. as wrll as go\'emment m.diiTr.rt:.lll'C to their needs. ' \\'e have tnle to our land. but 11 has been mvaded by more the Mescalero would act as temporal)' holder and broker or than 200 J>e:l.S."\l families. Our forest has been destroyed. our US nuclear waste-which would then be shipped on to Cree wild fnnt trees have been uprooted and tossed asldc without lands Mescalero Tribal Presodent Wendell Chino is cur· puy. the animals in the jungle ha,·c been ko off and we ate rently negotiating wuh thirty·t\VO utilities :md three lled going hungry." sud Nobeno Romero. nn elder m the Mby:l· nucle;ar comp;tmts for stornge of their waste, according to Gu.1rant communlt)t located m Ypa~ ln the S()Uthem depanment n Grccnpc3cc rcpresent3th..,. These pl>rlS may ha..-e been or c.-.-pa Dozens of surular confltru an: bang 0\-erlooked. or fordlalled b)' • tribal pltbtSCttc '" whtch Mcsc:dero mem· pla)ed doun, b)· President Carlos \\'osmosys g<>'-ernmcnt. bel'$ catcgonally rejec<ed propos:~ Is for nuclear '"llSSe stor· In 1Cl93. the lndig.."flous oommunlty m \'patl m.•naged to :tgc. The i'onh 1\mencan Free Tr>dc ,\grccmtnl (NAFTA) have SOlllt of tiS ttmtOij' dematattod :IS an lndtgt:nOUS resel''e has povcd the way for intcrnnuonnl shopptng or nuclear The COitlniUOil)' of Ypau \\':1$ gtven 2.600 hectares of natural wnstc. lrr.1di:tted fuel is a noi'Hnrl(f item wuhan the uadc fOt'dllS nnd swmnps 10 share with two other communities. However. 1hi~ has not put an end to the l:md mvasions which :lsrccmcnt. '""king it economic to ship nuclc:u 'vnste mto beg.1n In 1989. The mOst recent land uw:l$ion In \'pau beg;m this Cnnndf'l. The only requircmenl Is nccess «o temporary and paso Apnl, an official in the Mlni!.ll)' of Agncuhure and pwnnncnt stomge sites. For this. Indigenous l~nds have R.1nchmgs r..rm Credit Office Is reportedly • principal backer or been tnrgctcd, just as the)' h~ve •lways been for nuclear thiS tn\-;~S10n. Thn:e months >ftcr compe.stnos ~n invading te:sung. urnn1um mining and fuel enrichment. Tom Goldtooth of the lndtgcnous En,~ronmemal the Indigenous bnds- the )llS<tce ~hnlSil)' orde"'d politt to disNetwork char:teterizes th1s as ...a plot b)' government and lodge the tn\-.dets. Yet, no xuon l.,s bttn tokm The P.lrngu:ayan g«)\'t.mmcnl'~ pos:atton tn re.1:uion to tndU>tl)' to take ad,'llntagc of lndt3n trmtones: He adds. Indigenous commumties is charactonztd by a double standard. "'They know that wt don"t ha\'t: tnvn'Onmental codes or Parogua)• N5 one or the best l~ws 011 Indigenous rights in L:uin 1nfrnstructures that would protect us from stornge of w;\Ste. Amc!iCI. but pa)'S little aucmlon to ot. Instead. nccording to the Our network and our consutuems have been vchemcntl)' ln<hg<nous rights group ProfessioMI Soclo·Anthropologkal and opposed to 1hc federal stmtcg)' to site nuclear facilities on Legal Services. the government h:IS octunlly tried to p.1ralyze the our lands. It has to be stopped. If our d<•cted trib.1l orfi· dal$-<lnd some of them are puppets of the government-won't progr&.<S of Indigenous oommuniues nnd nllicd NGO~. stop it. our grassroots organizatiOns Will ... lttf~rmtttwn Jwm IAunan-.cnco Pr'ts.S, Uma. Ptru I \-Ill. 8 No. 4 s � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 8, no. 4 (Winter 1994) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Lands in US and Canada Targeted for Nuclear Dumping Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Winter 1994 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Indian Lands in US and Canada Targeted for Nuclear Dumping Item Type Journal Article Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages 5 Publication Title Abya Yala News: Journal of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) ISSN 1071-3182 Date Winter 1994 Language English Abstract Note The US government is negotiating with a Canadian indigenous community to construct a permanent nuclear waste dump on the tribe's preserve. Attachment Title Indian_lands_in_US_and_Canada.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Meadow Lake Cree Reserve NAFTA Nuclear Waste Saskatchewan https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/7d9c6e7aa53b768e5c2df971652c1543 334386908f607032d492d98458616052 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 5, nos. 2&3 (15).pdf PDF Text Text strategic cooperation between the narcotics dealers and the military, along with the tremendous volume of money the former have invested in the country, demonstrates the fact that the drug lords acted with total impunity regarding their violent criminal activities. As a result of their exoneration from justice, the narco-network was allowed to grow to such an extent that they began to dispute with the government power structures. This conflict led to a series of attacks on Colombia's ruling class, including the assasination in last September of the leading presidential candidate, L.C. Galan. It was shortly after this murder that the government detained 10,000 people and "discovered" the whereabouts of the drug king-pins, and within a week had confiscated hundreds of planes, cars, weapons, properties and millions in cash. The already turbulent social climate of Colombia has been compounded since by the extraordinary wave of violence of the narco-traffickers retaliation. The latest issues of the Colombian Indian newspapers, "Unidad Indigena" and "Alvaro Ulcue" report that the killing of Indian leaders and organizers continues uninterrupted. In fact, every issue of these periodicals in the last 15 years has reported the killings of Indian activists. Even so, their cry for life, land, autonomy and respect for their cultures continues to grow strong. CRIC Headquarters Bombed The Headquarters of the Indian Regional Council of Cauca (CRIC) where the CRIC Newspaper is published, was bombed in September. Although there were 30 Indian people sleeping in the building at the time, nobody was hurt. After the attack, the Indian people in the building were detained, questioned, and put through a rigorous identification process. Then the police proceeded to raid the office, supposedly searching for clues about the bombing. Following the incident, the governor of the state of Cauca appeared and expressed solidarity with CRIC. He also promised restitution for the damages. A few days later, however, when CRIC organizers went to his office to request a permit to hold a demonstration in protest of the attack, they were denied the permit and the offer of economic aid was withdrawn. The attack and the ensuing debacle with the governor is in keeping with what Indian people in Colombia call, "a tradition of political violence and economic, social, and cultural oppression, generated by the dominant class in Colombia against the poorest sector of society." Indian Leaders Murdered SAIIC expresses condolences to the families of two female Indian leaders, Maria Juana Camayo, City Council member of the town of Totaro, and Berta Cecilia de Jesus, member of the Executive Committee of the Peasant Federation of Cauca. They were both murdered and evidence leaves no doubt that they were executed by narco-paramilitary death squads. As usual in these types of crimes, the bombing and the deaths, no suspects were detained and no in-depth investigations were conducted. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 5, Nos. 2&amp;3 (Fall 1989 &amp; Winter 1990) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1989 & Winter 1990 Zotero Issue 2 & 3 Language English Publication Title SAIIC Volume 5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Leaders Murdered (Colombia) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article 2 & 3 Language A language of the resource English 2 & 3 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1989 & Winter 1990 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource 2 & 3 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2 & 3 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 2 & 3 Description An account of the resource 2 & 3 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 & 3 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2 & 3 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available 2 & 3 Relation A related resource 2 & 3 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource 2 & 3 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived 2 & 3 Subject The topic of the resource 2 & 3 Zotero Title Indian Leaders Murdered (Colombia) 2 & 3 Item Type Newspaper Article 2 & 3 Attachment Title Vol. 5, nos. 2&3 (15).pdf 2 & 3 Attachment URL [No URL] 2 & 3 Language English Volume 5 Artist 2 & 3 Attorney Agent 2 & 3 Book Author 2 & 3 Cartographer 2 & 3 Cast Member 2 & 3 Commenter 2 & 3 Composer 2 & 3 Contributor 2 & 3 Cosponsor 2 & 3 Counsel 2 & 3 Director 2 & 3 Editor 2 & 3 Guest 2 & 3 Interviewee 2 & 3 Interviewer 2 & 3 Inventor 2 & 3 Performer 2 & 3 Podcaster 2 & 3 Presenter 2 & 3 Producer 2 & 3 Programmer 2 & 3 Recipient 2 & 3 Reviewed Author 2 & 3 Scriptwriter 2 & 3 Series Editor 2 & 3 Sponsor 2 & 3 Translator 2 & 3 Words By 2 & 3 Note 2 & 3 DOI 2 & 3 ISBN 2 & 3 ISSN 2 & 3 Access Date 2 & 3 Application Number 2 & 3 Archive 2 & 3 Archive Location 2 & 3 Artwork Medium 2 & 3 Artwork Size 2 & 3 Assignee 2 & 3 Audio File Type 2 & 3 Audio Recording Format 2 & 3 Bill Number 2 & 3 Blog Title 2 & 3 Book Title 2 & 3 Call Number 2 & 3 Case Name 2 & 3 Code 2 & 3 Code Number 2 & 3 Code Pages 2 & 3 Code Volume 2 & 3 Committee 2 & 3 Company 2 & 3 Conference Name 2 & 3 Country 2 & 3 Court 2 & 3 Date 2 & 3 Date Decided 2 & 3 Date Enacted 2 & 3 Dictionary Title 2 & 3 Distributor 2 & 3 Docket Number 2 & 3 Document Number 2 & 3 Edition 2 & 3 Encyclopedia Title 2 & 3 Episode Number 2 & 3 Extra 2 & 3 Filing Date 2 & 3 First Page 2 & 3 Forum Title 2 & 3 Genre 2 & 3 History 2 & 3 Institution 2 & 3 Interview Medium 2 & 3 Issue 2 & 3 Issue Date 2 & 3 Issuing Authority 2 & 3 Journal Abbreviation 2 & 3 Label 2 & 3 Legal Status 2 & 3 Legislative Body 2 & 3 Letter Type 2 & 3 Library Catalog 2 & 3 Manuscript Type 2 & 3 Map Type 2 & 3 Medium 2 & 3 Meeting Name 2 & 3 Name of Act 2 & 3 Network 2 & 3 Num Pages 2 & 3 Number 2 & 3 Number of Volumes 2 & 3 Pages 15 Patent Number 2 & 3 Place 2 & 3 Post Type 2 & 3 Presentation Type 2 & 3 Priority Numbers 2 & 3 Proceedings Title 2 & 3 Program Title 2 & 3 Programming Language 2 & 3 Public Law Number 2 & 3 Publication Title SAIIC Publisher 2 & 3 References 2 & 3 Report Number 2 & 3 Report Type 2 & 3 Reporter 2 & 3 Reporter Volume 2 & 3 Rights 2 & 3 Running Time 2 & 3 Scale 2 & 3 Section 2 & 3 Series 2 & 3 Series Number 2 & 3 Series Text 2 & 3 Series Title 2 & 3 Session 2 & 3 Short Title 2 & 3 Studio 2 & 3 Subject 2 & 3 System 2 & 3 Thesis Type 2 & 3 University 2 & 3 URL 2 & 3 Version 2 & 3 Video Recording Format 2 & 3 Website Title 2 & 3 Website Type 2 & 3 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/6126c5b16e8f7e8bc1cb1c1ea22b40b4.pdf 90d83498c6055cbd4f62d0d28495c13d PDF Text Text VOLUME 8, NUMBER 3, fAU.1994 • • • • Uprising in Ecuador Convention on Biodiversity Update on Chiapas International Meeting of Indigenous Women ~~ LINKING INDIAN PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAs _ _ __,___ _ �c 0 T E T s Abya Yala News Editors: SAIIC 8o¥d of ()Wcctors Cooro:NtOt'$! Conswv.a Q.W'O. O.wid Ted:lin Oe,;go & L>yovt Alfonso )aramillo Enpsh Copy Editoc Cheryl Musch Intern: R.ebec<.l Kapur Editorial. ... . . . .. . . ... ... . . . ....... .. .. . . . .. .. 3 SAIIC Scaff In Br ie f . ... .. .. .. ........ .. . ............ .... . . 4 Perspectives on the Ele ctora l Process Director. N !lo Q:~ .,,.,;m Office Manager. Chc')i MU1dl ~~->:irOOit?osa Devclos>ment As>st.lnt Ro>a Al¢&fia Convnunic.ations Coon:ft\atOI": M.)rc S«lcet' Mexico: Indigenous Suffrage Under Protest .. .... .. .... 6 S AIIC Board of Directors Bolivia: Reconstruct ing the Ayllu .. ........ .. .. . • . . .. 9 W>n Alderete (Calchaqu;·Argetltina) Alejandro NnMu Argvmedo (Quechu.l·PC<V) N lo CaMU<O (~·Argetltina) Guatemala: Maya Political Crossroads .. .. ..... • , .. . . 1 0 G.Milemlo Dclg•do (Ouechu.l·SoM.) Colombia: Special Indian Districting . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . 14 a.1os M-th (M;,k;to.Nmgvo) CoN P<Kaldo (Son a.1os J\pW>c/CJ,;c..,.) Int e r natio nal _ , Hu<m (CIV<an;ooJa) M>reos Yoc ('W•·Qu;cf,./Guat<mab) Subscriptions: Declaration of Barbados Ill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Se lf-dete r m ination a nd Territory Second Indian Uprising in Ecuador . ..... .. . ..... ... . 19 Bilateral Agreements in Bolivia .... .. . . ... .. ...... .. 22 Organizing from Oaxaca to California . . .. .. . . .. . ... . 24 C.;iapas Updat e Six Proposals for a N ew Mexico .. .... ... .... •• . .. . 27 Environm e nt and Developm e nt Abya Yala NeviS (tSSN 1071·3182) is available for )n annual $ IS pc<'SONI ~. $2S for I~SOO.I justice non-pro!rts.. ~;o institutions. For Canada. and Me?oco add $5, for all other intetn:.~tion.lJ ~ps. add $10. We .......cl<omc sOOmissicns of artides.lett¢f"S. pho1ogt'i)Phs and telev¥1t VlfOlTT'I.ation. Leners and 31ticl¢s may be edited for -:« r""' """>«= length. 10 • '""""""~ """'-"'""" on paper ¥ld ¢n,v\~<OI'T'f)o'll:ible 3 tn. Wlch cJ:sk Send ;)I corSAIIC P.O. Box 28703 Oakland, C A 94604, USA Phone: (S 10) 834~42 6 1 Fu' ( S I 0) 834·4264 e-mail: sallc@igc.apc.org Biodiversity Convention .. .. . .... .. .. .. . .. ...... .. 30 W e would like t o thank the following individuaJs a nd organizations for their gt:nerous assistance to Abya Yala News W omen lleto llcwg«. Jo<ge Second Encounter of Indigenous Women .. ......... . . 34 Wayu Women Imperilled by Drug Trafficking ..... .. ... 35 Organiza tion and Commun ication .. .. . .. .. ..... 36 Calendar of Events ... . . . . .. ....... .. . ..... . .. 38 SAIIC N ew s .. . ........ • ..... .... . ... • . ..... . 39 On the Cover: R..esidtoc of San Crist~l de las Casu. Chiapas. cuti11g his vote f<>r the 199<4 Pres.idenliaJ elections In Mexk:o. Photo: Courtesy o! Global Exeh~ngo BriU>ol s...n.- (~ Anu). ~-'"""" ~ ~Gonzalez. M.lri>.-.. ~ ~ Mendo<.\ M.Wna Mo<>. V<tor Montcjo. Gullc>mo f'>do. o.n ~......._ KaO. T.,.,.._ l!ily R Trice~. Ste(ono v....,. and spe0>1 Wl'\k:s to Vd.y WMJ O rganlutlons: Amerincb ~). CEOCB ~). OoOp ($»~ Gu.lt_,. Ne..,. and In~ Mansi< M<descnte< <NM"'Y~ Q'-1)0 K>Nman:a (VSA~ U<nzo (P<N~ RliniOteS' Action Ne:twclfi(.(USA), THOA (Bo"Ma), TIPI {Noway·~). t..m G<onYold (NoN"Y). a...-..u. w"""' Publications: NAORP (VC OM USA), Prcsend.l!Aeraria (BoiM.l). !Wv.a OjuaSCol (Mt>;<o). Re.lsu u;,., (SoN&). Th:tnks to t he following founda t ions for t heir gene,... ous s upport: joM D. and Catherine T. Mac /vVP.Jfr Fovndation. ~a.l ~e Foundation. Pubfic Welfare F~. The Tides Found.ltion. f~tlOC'I for ~ Ecology. SA IIC Rprest:ntatives abroad: )\>oft ~ Lar.l·RECNSUEN (Nonv>y). Raf>d ~ (Gcnrony). A'<jand<o ~ & Susan O'Oonel (CWd.l~ �E D I TO R IAL he so-c.1lled "cold war" between Capitalism and Socialism has been redefined. Instead of a conflict between "East and West," it now appears as a problem of North versus South . Today, the military impositions and economic propos.1ls expressed in the concept of a "New World Order" do no more than fortify policies of oppression against Indigenous nations and territories. For the Indigenous peoples, the oppression that beg.1n with the western invas•on. and which has just completed its 502nd year, still continues as more threats loom over the honzon. International agreements such as the North American Fr« Trnde Agreement {NAFTA). General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organizauon {WTO) are nothing more than new legal instruments which serve to increase transnational companies' power to exploit natural and human resources without regard for Indigenous territories. It should not be forgotten that a large portion of these natural resources, such as biodiversit)'. petroleum. timber, minerals. etc. arc found within Indigenous territories. for their pan, the nation-states still largely refuse to recognize Indian territory and continue 10 dispose of it as they will. most recently, b)' ceding it to national and transnational companies within the new Neoliberal programs. Governments and parliaments continue to make decisions for the oppressed majorities. Constitutional changes. new Agrarian laws. privatizauon of b.1Sic sef\ices, etc. are legal•nstruments, created without consulung the Indigenous organ•zauons, in the name of "democracy." The Indigenous people demand participation in all dectsions directly affecting Indigenous nauons. territories, and cultural systems. and reject the assimilauonist policies of the nation-state. Without entering into an in-depth analysis of the concept of democracy imposed by the Western nation-state on the Indigenous nations "~th cosmic-spiritual-territorial bases. we have tried in this journal to present an {admittedly incomplete) picture or Indigenous participation in national elections. The diverse experiences illustrated here demonstrate that Indian organizations offer new possibilities to renovate the nation-state. The)' also reveal the need for autonomous political positions and the formation of coalitions under equal conditions. Of course. not all of the Indigenous experiences have been positive. However, many of lhese, both good and bad, provide lessons from which we can learn in order to reformulate our future stralegies. Indigenous participation in the nation-states' electoral processes is only one aspect of the differem strategies we need to pursue. Access to parliaments gives us more power to propose and pressure for the adoption and approriate implementation of progressive international agreements such as the International Labor Organization's Convention 169, which is currently only recognized by seven governments. Other international agreements such as the UN Declaration on the Principles and Rights of Indigenous peoples require further pressure from the Indigenous organizations to the U.N. bodies in order to obtain an international convention signed by the colonial governments, recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and not just a Declaration without implementing measures. We believe that u is Imperative for the Indigenous movement to work in coordinated fashion at the continental and world level to produce joint proposals for appropriately adopung and furthering the scope of these mternauonallegal instruments. ~ have to remember that, although the legal instruments are avilable. they need to be ratified by nauon-states, but also, in some c.1ses. those legal instruments need to be taken furhter, according to Indigenous organizations' understanding of such matters. Otherwise, these! instruments will remain In the hands of nation-states without Indigenous input. T SAIIC Board of Directors Vol. 8 No.3 3 �IN BR I EF Massive Coca-grower's March on La Paz, Bolivia Bolivian security forces unsuccessfully tried to turn away a protest march of severn! thousand camp.:;i110s headed for the capital city of La Paz in early September. Over fifty leaders were arrested. police confiscated baggage and even sandals in an attempt to pre,·ent campesinos from joining the march. The coca-growers were headed for La Paz to demand fair treatment for those who make their living growing coca. Coca leaf has long been important in the Andes because of its cultural and rnedicinal elemems. but in recent years it has acquired significance as a cash crop which is used in the production of cocaine. Protesters are demanding the demilitarization of the Chaparc region, protection of 1he coca·growing industry. com· pliance with agreements previously signed with the government, and the release of arrested activists. After three attacks by security forces. marchers chose to stay ofT the main roads to avoid funher confrontation. Campesinos have been subjected to increased arbitrat)' arrests and seizures, intimidation and harassment. sexual abuse or women. and tor· ture. Religious workers in the coca-growing Chapare region. say that the area has been completely militarized. and that the gov· emmem has also been cracking down on non·govemmental organizations who are supportive of the Indigenous camtJtsinos. The country's rn.ost powerful labor union. the 13olivian Workers Central (C06). held a 48-hour strike in La Paz on Sept. 15 and 16 to pressure the government on the cocagrowers' behalf. In response. President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada called a national dialogue to discuss the ..cocacocaine'" problem and to seek consensus solmions. The coca-growers emerged from this dialogue with a preliminary agreement which rneets several of their key demands. Leuu s demandi11g respe" for the human rigJus of c;amf'(Sinos <Jnd NCO workers in the coca regions c;a~t be sent to Bolivian President Gom::alo Sanche:: de ~ada, Fax: 591 -2·391216 Adapl<d from : \Vtekly N t h'S Upd<lle. 011 tilt AmcriC Nicamgua Solidarity Network tJf (IS, Greater New Yor·k. 339 Wfayeue Sl.• New Yorh. NY 10012. Argentina: Constitution Finally Recognizes Indigenous Rights ArgentinaS constitutional revision on Aug. 11 this year rec· ognized Indigenous peoples' rights after a series of postponements by the dmfting commission. After much debate. Article 67 of the constitution was modified to read : (the slate/ relognizes concwn:ncly with the provinces, the pre· existence of the lndgenous peoples that make up the Ar:geminian nation, guaranteei,lg respect for their elhnic and cultural identity. the legal sw1us of their communities; the tmession and communal 4 ow11crship of lands that they tradilio11ally occupy; mal1i11g a"ailable sufficient and suitable lands for their lwman development. which will be h1alienable and not subjeCl to seiZl~re; assure their access to bilingual ancl inrerculwral education: and their lHH'tici· palion in <lecisions n:gardirzg the rational use, administration <Jnd consen•ation of natural re:sour·ces: in the developmcmt of their interests; and in national life. Nonetheless, the final text relating to communal ownership of trnditionally-occupied lands ended up only partially satisfactory. The original Indian proposal used the word •guarnntecd" in respect to ownership of these londs. The governing justicialista Party, alonned by the supposed legal and economic consequences of this proposal. pushed the d rafting commission to rephrase this with the word ..regulatc..-which obviously has different implications. In the final compromise. the commission settled on the word "recognize)!o which implies at least that communities wilt be able to secure ownership or lands for which they already have titles. Settlement Between Texaco and Ecuadorian Government Sidesteps Indigenous People U.S.-based multinational oil company, Texaco Inc. and the Eeuadorian govemmem have reached a tentative agreementsubject to Ecuadorian President Sixto Duran Ballens approvalon clean-up and restoration of fom1er oil production sites in Ecuador's remote Oriente region. The populations. panicularly Indigenous peoples. whose communities ha"e been devastated by twenty years or accumu· lated toxic dumping and oil spills. were never consuhed in the process of negotiating this settlement. Indigenous and colonist organizations have been fighting for yec1rs, in alliance with envi· romner!lal groups and lawyers. to force Texaco to carry-out a thorough clean-up and restoration of the areas it polh.ucd and to provide health services and monitoring of oil related ailmems within affected comrnunities. Texaco$ oil operntions have spilled some 16.8 million gallons of crude oil into the Oricme. The company also voluntalily dumped 20 billion gallons of water containing toxic hydrocarbons. chemicals and heavy metals. into the regionS waterwa)'S. Roads built by Texaco have blazed the way for deforestation of O\rer 2.5 million acres of rainforest by opening previously isolated Indian territories to colonization by fMmers and mnchers. On tenninating its operations in 1990, Texaco made no effon to clean up the toxic mess it left behind. Indigenous umbrella organizations including COICII. CONAIE and CONFENAIE as well as the environmental coalitions CEDENMA and Amazon For Life "ill not accept this exclusive bilateral settlement between Texaco and the Ecuadorian government. The governmentS interests and the IVYya Yala News �IN communities' interests are n ot congruent. The sune-own.cd oil company CEPE (now Pcuocc-uador) worked in conson.ium with Texaco as a co-polluter and will ha"e to pick up the tab for 65.5% of any remediation bill. Given the ccuadorian govern- ment's financial liability in this situation, organizations fear that their government will not adequately meet the needs of the communities that have been impacted. For this reason. Indigenous org~nizmions must be fully involved in negotiating any settlement if a tmly effective plan for environmental reStoration and human heahh care is to be designed, financed and implemented. Pleas.: write or fax Texaco and dtt &uadorian gwcrnment immediarcly exp~ming your conetnt. Presid<nte SL, to Dur.ln Ballen. Prosideme dela Repblica dd Ecuador, P:llacio PrtsidencW, C'lle Garcia Moreno, Quito, Ecuador. Fa." 593-2-580-735 Alfred C. DeCrone Jr.. CEO and Chainnan of the Board, Texaco. Inc.. 2000 Westchester Ave.. \Vhite Plains, NY 10650. Fax: 914-253· 7753 lnfonnation supplied by the Rainforest Aaior~ Nawork Paraguay-Parana Waterway Threatens Largest Wetlands in t he Americas BR I EF mental costs, a nd comprehensively evaluate the waterway's impacts. including those to all 2,000 miles of river that will be affected. lnfonnatio-n supplied by tltt lnctrnational Rivers Nuworh. Venezuelan Indians Seek Constitutional Rights R epresentatives of Venezuela's twenty-seven Indigenous peoples began a series of meetings at the Latin American Indigenous Parliament Center in Caracas to demand that their rights be included in the national constitution, which congress is current· ly attempting to reform . jest\s j im~ne.z , Vene.zuela~ only lndigneous congressman, explained that the 350.000 Indigenous people living in this country seek inclusion for their rights tO land, usc or their languages and recognition of dual citizenship for those peoples living along the Colombian and Brazilian borders. Jimenez pointed out that ColombiaS Indigenous legislation guarantees dual citizenship in such cases. including for the 10.000 Wayu who inhabit the Colombian-Venezuela border area. The Indigenous repre-sentatives will also try to secure guarantees for participation in legislative powers at the national, regional. municipal. and local levels. Injorm<Hion COU1'te$)' of Ansa Nt.WS Agency Inc. " More than fony scientific, environmental and indigenous o rganizations launc hed an international campaign in early Sept. to protect the vast Pantanal wetlands from a .. mega-project'" known as the Parana-Paraguay Hidrovia (or watenvay). Organizations rne1 in Chapada dos Guimares in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to discuss the Pantanal's current situation and the proposed waterway. According to these diverse organizations, the Pamanals already suffer tremendous impacts caused by gold and dia mond mining. logging, u rban sewerage. industrial po llution. pesticide and herbicide run-off and overfishing. The proposed waterway would include several massive engineerin_g projects to straightel't, deepen and "regulate" the c hannel of the Paraguay River. The governments of Brazil. Argentina, Bolivia. Paraguay and Uruguay hope that the watcrwny will open the riverS upper sections to year-round industrial shipping. and have applied to the !mer-American Development Bank and other sources for funding. International funders are wary, however, u mil an environmental impact statemem (ElS) has been completed. T he groups meeting in Chapada dos Guimares are therefore demanding full participation in the ElS process. They also demand that it take into account all social and e nviron· Vol. 8 No.3 5 �P ERS PECT I V ES 0 N TH E E L E C T O R'.!~_!....!R O~:..:E S :__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ ~ A L P ~ C ~S In the following section we present a review of the Indian movement's experiences with electoral processes over the last year. Members of the movement p rovide analyses intended both to expose the problems and dangers of the nation-state's existing political processes. and to evaluate the Indian movement's political weaknesses. and thereby strengthen future political participation. Opinions in these articles belong to their authors. and are not necessarily those of SAl/C. Elections in Mexico: Indigenous Suffrage Under Protest By Araceti Burguete Cal y Mayor T he Mexican Constitution was modified in 1992 to include certain new tures. Faced with this situation, nearly 100 politically diverse Indigenous organizations met in Mexico City on Indigenous rights. Unfonunately, ingly doubtful about working through the March 4 and 5 10 develop a common this rdonn has never been implcmcmcd. political parties. Consequently, the tradi- national electoral strategy. The and Indigenous fonns of social organiza- tional parties have gradually lost political Convention presented presidential candi· tion and democratic representation still control within the coumryS Indigenous dates attending the meeting with a con· lack legal recognition. Despite many efTons regions. sensus program with universal to pass legislation guaranteeing Indian repThus, despite the high turnout of Indigenous demands. At the same time. resentation in congress over the p."lSt three Indigenous voters for the Aug. 21 presi- the Convention demanded candidates to years, none have been adopted because dernial elections nationally, several specify their policies on the right to selfIndigenous organizations still lack allies to lndiger'IOUS regions refused to vote in detennination, as well as representation suppon these proposals. Thus. Mexico's their entirety. A significant number of in congress. The Assembly's program Indigenous peoples have access to the community assemblies, like that of &In demanded that political parties agree to nation's congress only through panicipa- juan Comalapa in Oaxaca. rejected the the creation of a Sixth Electoral District. tion in the political panies. establishment of polling places in their exclusively for Indigenous peoples, and At the same 1ime. there is ample COE communities and decided to remain out· that they reserve a quota of 10% of their 'Isensus among the nation's Indigenous side the electoral process. Not just this candidacies for Indigenous representaorganizations that the political parties are town. but practically the entire Triqui tives. not adequate mechanisms for bringing region in Oaxaca boycotted the election . Although the candidates reiterated Indigenous representatives to congress. Of those Indigenous people who voted their commitment to the Indigenous peoThis conclusion has been reinforced by nationwide. many did so under protest: ple-especially due 10 the pressure the marginal placement of Indigenous unhappy with the panisan system , but caused by events in Chiapas-they did demands in the political parties' agendas, conscious of the need to contribute with not adopt the demand for a new district· in addition to the absence of Indigenous their vOle to the country's political future. ing as their own. Only the Party of the represemmion in their leadership stn1c· Democratic Revolution (PRD) responded National Indigenous Electoral b)' reserving three cand idacies in the Araa:li 8urgucle I a Chiapas ,uuivc as well as Convention s lower house and two in the senate for Technical and Research Coordinator for the For the first time in contemporary Indian leaders. Though not insignificant, lndtf'(nclem Indian Pcoplc.s Front. Mexican history. delegates representing this gesture is cenainly limited-especial· 6 Indigenous people have become increas· I>Jyya Yala News �PERSPEC TI VES ON THE EL ECT OR A L PROCESS ly if it is taken into account that Mexico~ Indigenous people constitute more th~t 15% of the population. The governing nizations and individuals from through· out the country to a National Democratic Convention (CND) from Aug. 8 to 10. Institutional Revolutionary Party will have no more than two Indigenous wilhin Zaptuista territory in the Lacandon jungle. AStonishing!)', over 6.000 delegates from throughout Mexico made the long joume)' to attend this event in the isolated and previously obscure comrnunity of Aguascaliemes. As with practical!)' all events organized by the ..civil society"'-that is, mestizo society-Indigenous panicipation was marginal and the number of delegates was scarce!)' significant. Despite the limited number of panicipams. Indigenous orga· nizations came to a consensus proposal for use in the discussion table. Thus, half of the resolutions at the round table for a Constitutional Congress and a New deputies and one lndigenous senator. National Democratic Convention in Chiapas On june 13, based on the overwhelm· ing majority of the vote within their sup· porter communities the Zapatista National Liberation Arm)' (EZLN) refused the Mexican government's peace pro· pos~l. At the s~me time the EZLN announced ~ strateg)' to seek unit)' the civilian 1novement pushing for a transition to national democracy. To this end, they surnmoned a diverse group of orga· Vol. 8 No.3 Constitution related to Indigenous peo· pies rights. gathering in a S)'nthesis of the proposals presented b)' the Independent Indian Peoples Front (FIPI). along with those of other delegations. The final text of the Convention read as follows: As ctmcems the Indigenous peoples, the National Denux mcic Converllion resoh·es that their autonomy, sclf·<iecennination and territorial rights bo recognized; char che customary riglu of lndiger~o~ts 1>eople be elevated to a constitutional right; that a new chapter on hldigtnousr>eoplc. elab· omced by che llldigeiiOilS r<or>les themselves, be integrated in the New Cor~scicution. Tite policy will bo elaborated on seven axes: lcmd, emJ>loymem. justice, economy. freedom, hullch and ed1•C a· tion. Thac articles 115 thro~tgh 122 be 7 �PERSPECTIVES ON THE ELECTORAL PROCESS rc:viscd to srrc:ngtltcn nwnicip<1lities <md establish the Indigenous regions, Tlwt the fourth article be mO<Iified to co•iform a Sixth Plurinominal Districting for lr1digenous representation, that the right to tulucacion be made effective and llwc this education respects and iruegrates the diver>ity of all Indigenous peoples, their traditions, customs. and languages. Education should be free at all levels, democratic, lay. scientific. humanistic. national and critical. Education for Indigenous people must be bilingual at all levels. In spite or the importance or this pamgmph, it is important to acknowledge that Indigenous perspectives and the aspimtions or the Indigenous people in Mexico were not the centmlthcme or the CND- opposmon to the government and the again appropriated-through rmud and official (PRI) party. Predictably, the gov- multiple electoral transgressions that have ernment ~ried to rorestall CEOICs partic- not been investigated- over 90% or the ipation in the CNO by trying to crea.te seats ror in the House or Deputies and divisions within the coalition. almost I 00% or those ror the Senate, Unronunately, these prospered. Hair or Nonetheless. the d isappointment relt by CEOIC-made up or organizations large- Indigenous peoples d id not coalesce into ly financed by the government or the a post-electoml struggle, When the elecPRI-stood against participation in the tions were o,·er. Indigenous organizations Convention, The other hair-the selr-pro- returned to their previous stntggles and daimed Independent CEOIC-<:ndorscd. tactics, The PRO vote cast by the majority and then joined the CNO, The indepen- or Chiapas' Indigenous peoples was not a dent CEOIC maintains a line of civilian truly partisan vote. The PRO was persupport ror the Zapatista proposals and ceived as the best party at hand, but not negotiations, and continues to contribute necessarily as their own party, or as one significantly to the extension of '"civilian that identi fies wholly wilh their interests. bridges· into the conOict zone. Votes garnered by the PRO in Chiapas awarded two seats in the lower house to Elections in Chiapas Indian leaders. These are: Antonio this despite the conventionS location in August 21 , election day, was particu- Hernandez (see interview in VoL 8:1&2). the heart of the conflict zone, wilhin ter~ larly significant ror Chiapas, The states Maya-Tojolabal, state leader or the rilOry held by an army, nearly all of whom elections commstcd sharply with those in Independent Central or Agricultural arc Indian. the rest or the country, For the forst time Workers and Campesinos (CIOAC), and in the highland and jungle regions or M ario Landeros. candidate for the Xfnich Fragi le Coalition Divides in Chiar>as, Indigenous people exercised organizmion of Palenque. Elsewhere. Chiapas their citizenS right to vote in massive Martin Equihua rcpreseming the A political watershed leading up to rashion. For the forst time they voted or Guerrero 500 Years or Indigenous the National Democratic Convention their own free will. without impositions. R esistance State Council also won a seat was the fragnlcntation into two halves or and without being coerced. For the forst in the lower house through the PRO vote, the Indigenous and Campesino State time the Indigenous vote in Chiapas was Euldarico Hemandez. Chontal writer and Council or Chiapas (CEOIC), It was evi- not ror the PRL leader rrom the state or Tabasco. sec\lrcd a dent that the Convention would express At the national level. the PRI once seat in the senate, along with Hector Sanchez, leader or the Worker·C.1111pesino Student Coalition or the Isthmus, The present political balance is certainly not what Indigenous or ganizations demand, nor what justly corrcs1>0nds to their peoples, Nevertheless, the Indigenous movement will have at least three authemic advocates in the next legisla· ture. These delegates are committed to constitutional rcrorms elabomted by the Indigenous National Electoral Com•en· tion including: rhe right to govern their territories according to norms established by their customs and usage. and the right to Indigenous representation in congress through special districting without Maya residents o f Altamirano, Chiapas U up to vote; o bservers at polling place s ne in the town reported significant irregularities. dependence upon the political l>arties. -., 8 AIYya Yala News �Reconstructing the Ayllu: toward Renewal of the Bolivian State By Maria Eugenia Choque and CariDs Mamani ast years eltcuons m Bolivia culmi· noted m August Wlth the victory of ·ealthy mdustriahst Gonzalo ("Goni") ~nchez dt Lozada and Aymara Indian intellectual Victor Hugo Olrdenas, leaders of tWO distinct political traditions: Coni !rom the leftist-turned-centrist Nationalist Revo lutionary Movement (MNR) credited with •modernizing" Bolivia. and Victor Hugo !rom the Aymara Tupac Katari Revolutionary Movement of Liberation (MRTKL). Their election trig· gered celebrations among various sectors or the Bolivian population. On the mght or Aug. 5. the coliseum in La Paz was the scene or a grand. picturesque ceremony organized by the MNR. Indigenous people panicipatcd in a ntual of homage and recognition in which representatl\'eS of almost all o f the native groups in the country presented symbols of power and authority to Gonzalo Sanchez and Victor Hugo. It symbolized their acceptance as ··n:nive authorities... The presentation took place in a colorful atmosphere o f wiphalas (multi-colored patchwork Aymara Oags which have come to represent Indian Unity). The ceremony was a perfect an1ftce: showing Indian inte· grauon and ascendance lO po\1 ter-by Marla fugmla Olotr-" is a luslonan and Dir«IIJI' of the Alldtan Oral Hwory llbrl>shop m l.n Paz. Carlos Mamanl also ..00.0 as a luslorian m l.n Paz. Vol8 No.3 Marching for territory and dignity way or the vace-presadent elect. Funhermore. the president appeared (how marvelous!) to be seeking Indigenous recognttaon before taking power. Alliance with the Tupac Katari Revolutionary Movement of Liberation (M R TKL) wns a great success for the MNR, leading to a decisive electoral victory. The MRTKL, for their part, gained five seats in Congress. a small role in the administration or the Slate, and the creation or a National Secretariat of Ethmc Affairs. Quruitath·ely. howe,·er, their presence in parliament as more hmucd than that of the first Indian depuues m parh•mem (including Olrdenas hamseiO m the 1980s. Since the elecuon, pohuc::al propag;mda has tned to show that the indigenous mo,·ement-wuh Vfctor 1-iugo at its head-is pan of the government. Or, at least, that it Is willing to wait to be vindi· cated through reforms proposed by the government in llCW hlW'S O( popular par· ticipation. cdu~tion , :1nd privatization. The situation in UoHvia C;ln be under· stood as the continuation or an inter-eth· nic relationship an which the criollo (people of European descent) groups in power use the an of samulaung lnd.,n political pan.capauon. to perfecuon. They accomplash thas b)• puttmg on shows such as that descnbcd obo\'C and through their newly acquued ~bthty to integrate Indigenous andavaduols mto the politic::al elite. These and"'duals must only pass an exam where saenficc. higher education. desire !or power and presuge, and the denunciauon of their adeals appear to be the deciding factors. Wlthm this context. it is not saying too much to point om that Victor Hugo appeared in electoral propa· ganda representing the COntinmuion of the stateS intcgmtiomst policies such as the agrarian refonn of 1953. Given the StateS VISible securily in hs control over the lndagenous popubuon, \\'C ask here. what is the state or the Indian MO\'trnent? History of the Movement Todar~ lnd.,n n>ovement os neuher a recent phenomenon, nor the result of the 1952 revoluuon. It as the conunuation. although in fragmented fonn, of a ffiO\'C· ment of C<ICiqut'S (tradltionul chiefs) which was led in the first hal! or this century by Santos Marka T'ula. Eduardo Nina Qhispi, Gregorio Ventura, Rufino \C,IIca. Feliciano Aruquipa, Celcdonio Luna. Mateo Alfaro, and others. These caciques struggled !or the survival or the Indigenous people and proposed the "renewal Of 8ohvi3" With the InstitUtionalization or respect !or dovcrsoty and pluralit)' In thear analystS of domeStiC: and international pohcaes (1920-1936) , they Continued on page 33 9 �PERSPECTIVES ON THE ELECTORA L PROCESS Photo : Gvatemal3 NC\'/S and Information 8ure3u Guatemala: M aya M ovement At The Politica l Crossroads Maya " Communities of Populations in Resistance"' (CPR's) left hidden communities in the lxcan jungtc in February of this year to establish an open potiticat presence. By Estuardo Zapeta. n june of 1993. following the failed self-coup d'ttat by former President jorge Serrano Elias, the Pem1anent Maya Assembly submitted a list wi1h three names for the Vice-presidency. This act in itself shook the Guatemalan politi- I C.."'..I establishment, demonstrating the new asseniveness of the coumryS Indigenous movement. This p reviously little known polhical curre m is now one of the strongest in Guatemalan society. Paradoxically 1he ..Serranazo," as Serrano Elias' attempted coup was nicknamed. helped the Maya movement emerge o nto the national stage. Nonetheless. and perhaps due to a lack of political experience. Maya organizations have fallen fa r short of their political potential in recent years. This year, two political C\'CntS rencct on the situation faced by the movement. On jan. 30, a majori1y of voters approved Esruardo Z<lp•:~a is Maya-Caqchiqu<l and works wirlt rhe Ctmro de Esrudios dela Culwra Maya (CECMA) of Cuaremala. 10 newly-appointed President Ramiro de Leon Carpio$ proposed constitutional revision a midst massive abstentionism. Then. on Aug. 14. parliamentary elections were held in which fonncr military d ictator Rios Mont , whose administration from 1981-82 was responsible for the bloodiest repression of the Maya population in rcccm history. won a seat in congress. The Political Movement: Internal and External Factors Maya Indians arc the majority in Guatemala with over 60% of the I>Opulation. ThC)' are also victims of the \Vestem Hem isphere~ longest and most bloody modern civil wars. Understanding the discovery of the Americas in 1992 unified organizations in a common cultural and political cause. Second. numerous Mayan organizations have fonned in the country- side. These range from agricultural cooperatives to a national system of Mayan schools. and they have begun 10 consolidate local power as the basis of an effective political panicipation. Third. ethnic issues have become a maucr of national debate since the agenda for peace talks between the govem mem and the guerrilkl movement was modified to include a point on "ldemi1y and Rights of the Indigenous People." Advances made by t he movement have unfonunately been undem>ined by e rnerging Maya political participation power struggles within the Indian leader- requires a look a1 both internal and external factors affecting the movement in ship. Fueled by the lack of clear I>Oiitical objectives, this in-fighting slowly gnaws away at achievements 1 nadc over the last three years. Additionally. one effect of the recent years. There ttrc three major internal innuences on Maya political activism. First, strong Op(>OSition to celebration of the Quincenrenary of Columbus' so-called diminished influence of Marxist d iscourse has been the new recognition of previous- ly ignored cultural differences among the !Wya Y News ala �PERSPECTIVES Maya peoples. Th<S< dtfferences h3\·e in ON Thts ts true. first of all. because only tum, accclcr.ued the mttrnal competition 20% of the electoratt voted. Second!)\ for power. Rtos Mont exploned law and order Externolly. Moyo pohllcal panicipation rhetoric tn a count')' where criminal foces chollenges generated by last years activity tS second only to poveny as a failed coup d'tun, the nations general social problem. The ex-dtctator is also a democratic crisis and the Aug. 14 con· born-again Protestant. and could there· gressional elections. International pres- fore count on nc:uly un:mimous suppon sure OJ\ the Guatcmahm government has from the evangelical Protestont popula· also contributed to the opening of politi· tion. In 1990. 36% of the population was cal spaces for the Maya. estimated to be l'rotestant. the highest proportion or nny country in predomiOf Elections And The Elected nantly Catholic latin America. The lndtgenous movement discovered Evangelical advances are not surprising in its first '"polittcal thermometer'" in rural. Mayan commumues. Thts success Prestdent Carptos referendum for the results from a well-planned and well· proposed con.sutuuonal revision. The funded wave o( e'"ngehcal mtssionizing rtVtSlon was 01med ot purgmg the corrupt from the Untted States. Serrano congress and represented a funThe Maya people and the former dicdamental clash between the executive and tator w>ll face thetr real challenges in the legislative powers. The Indigenous mo,·e· Nov. 1995 prcstdenual elections. Unless ment could have exploited this division. Rios Mont can eng1neer a constitutional but political inexperience limited any revision. he will be b.1rrcd-as a former gains. The principal Mayan organizations dictator-from seeking the presidency. At threw their supJ behind the president~ the same time, moderate right-wing par>Ort constitution•! chonges. In exchange, the ties. who are best placed to \vin the pres· president approved a National Indigenous ideney. have shown liule concern for Rios Fund. The Maya people could have Mont and are turning their :mention to gained much more. the 1ndtgenous vote. For instance. the President C.1rp1o~ constitutional revi· National Advancement Party (PAN). has ston was approved with a majority )-es· been in ·secret• tolks with the vote on Jan. 30. but turnout \1>1\S a shock· Autonomous Movement of Masses. an mgly low 16'10 of the dectora.te. Poor orgamzauon worktng for poliucal educa· commumcauon btlwetn the Indigenous tion and org:t.mz;mon m poor Indigenous nauonal and grassroots 0rg.1niza1ions pre· and mtsti.c;o rommunu1es. ''ented any stgmficant political panicipa· tton. Yet Mara Orgllmzations ha\'e learned Military Ethno-hysteria that politicians now place imponance on Withtn the politico! process. the the Indigenous vote. Indigenous rno\·emem c:mnot underestl· National congressional elections were mate the anny$ presence and power. held on August 11. 1994. Surprisingly. This institution. which has systematical· (ormer military dictator Errnin Rios Mom ly opposed any Moya political panicipa· and his Republican Front pany emerged lion, is undergoing one or its worst with a significnnt vtctory. R ios MomS times . It's important to remember that tenure as dictator in 1981-1982 was one the :mny has free nnd permanent access of the bloodtest ever endured by the to most Maya communmes through Mayon people. At that ttme. his "bullets paramilitary squads known as Civil and beans· counter·tnsurgency program Defense Patrols 11 has established razed hundreds of Mayo villages to the throughout the countrystde. The current ground. H1s VICtory howe,·er is not~ sur- number of 3Ctl\'C members m the Civil pnstng as 11 appe3rs. Defense: Patrols 15 esttmated at O\"tr Vol. 8 No.3 THE ELECTORAL PROCESS 500.000: 95% of these are Maya A senous tntemal dJ\'tSton. '"loss"' of the commumst enemy, a re--defimtton of its role after mmal peoce talks. and a problem of · unage· both at the nauonal and internauoMIIcvel. are JUSt few of the problems foced by the Guutemulan army. The appoumncnt of General Julio Otzoy Colaj. Mnya-caqchiquel from the town of Comalapa. as Vice-Minister of Defense is widely percei,'Cd as on auempt to tum back Maya poliucal odvances. Otzoy never tdcnufies htmself as Mayo and leads the army's ultra<Onservative sector. 0tzoy explamed m a 1\~nt tntervtew thot "due to the senous ethniC problem· facing Guatemala. there \S g7t3t nsk for the emergence of an •ethntcally·based guemlla mo,-ement" m the next ten years. The recent ·Maya Nauon h)-pothests• and the new ideas on Mt\)'0\ :.'lutonomy have increased Ouoys fears. Although these ideas arc mere speculations. the conserva· tive military lllCrcaslngly accuses Maya organizations or subversion ond sep.1ratism. The ultra-right is olso haunted by the possibility that the Guotcmolan govern· Ex-dictator Rios Montt's amp&ign slogan prodaiming "'With us.. your vote counts.• 11 �PERSPECTIVES ON THE ELECTORAL ment might ratify Convention 169 of the labor Org:mizmion on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries. This would International increase the international legal validity of rights claimed by Ma)'a organizations. PROCESS at the end of the 1980s. The Indigenous National Front (FIN) was fou nded for this purpose. This political organization faded out. basicall)\ because it had neither the people nor the monel' to be heard at the national level. Work at the local level has Indigenous leaders who participated in Christian Democratic President Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo's administration . Many outstanding accusations of corruption and financial mismanagement remain against them. Though Minister Tay Coyoy is the first Indian to r each such a high position in Guatemalan government, the ract that his activities cominue to be opaque h as not helped the consolidation of the political party. The Maya dilemma has always been whether to participate in the electoml systemS existing panies in order to gain new spaces. and eventually rise to shape party platforms themselves or to create their own political associ· ations. capable of partici- pating at the national level. The Indigenous movement is also limited by a Jack of economic T army maintains a political presence in most Maya communities through the Civil Defense Patrols. he Recent publication of Rujunamil Ri Mayab' Amaq (Rights of the Maya Peo1>le) has also fueled the am1yS fears. In sum. these military sectors see any Indigenous political been visibly more effective 1han at the national or regional level. For example, the Came Civic Committee, an Indigenous grassroots organziation. has kept power. Maya organiza· tions are facing financial crise-S at the national, regional, and local levels. This has only been overcome at the local level, where the Maya ob,oousl)' have more opportunities. progress as a national security threat. However, the " young officers" sector and the anny:S so-called Mprogrcssive wing" arc to some extent forcing the ul~ra-con­ servative groups to be more lOieram toward political indigenous participation . control of the Mayors office for the last The Chall enge Ahead ten years, even while competing with the Though many have argued that the congress elected on Aug. 14 represems a It moted formation of a political pany. This who represem a challenge to the congress. The congress$ shon d11ration (one year) Maya organizations to take advantage of commiuee is covertly directed by the cur. these divisions within the anny. rem minister of education. Alfredo Tay and its ideological composition which leans heavily lOward the right wing ""II be up to the political abilities of the established national parties. The most recent national efforts for Maya political participation was through the Sociedad lxim, a committee 1hat pro~ Coyoy. Dilemmas and Limitations of Political Participation The first Maya auempts at direct national political participation took place 12 Maya-K'iche' from challenge to Mayan political participation. the opposite is in fact true. h i.s the Maya Quetzal- (which ignores Indigenous demands). tenango. Chrisitan Democratic parties bcnh wilhin Guatemala and Europe are indicates that the Indigenous movernem should take the time to re-evaluate its also supporting this effort in ncar secrecy. Among the ranks of this group are Guatemala's socio·polilic31 reality. position and design Strategies that renect PIDya Yala News �PERSPECTIVES The foll0\\1ng pomts require t\'aluation: a) Substantial changes in the political diseourse. The radical nature of ahe Mayan political discourse-based on s tagnant leftist Ideas from the 1960s-has become obsolete in 1994. This discourse d oes not help Ind ian political participation : 10 the contrary, it reaffi mts the fear and cahno-hystcria of the army and the economically powerful sectors. In short, this discourse is characcenzed by mconsistent pop· uhsm. the InSIStence that the MayaS only problem is unJUSt land distribuuon, and b)' a rod1cal envuonmental· 15m th31 defends the adopuon of exouc hfesayles. Thts is not ahe Mayan people's dascourse. but rather results from an inOux of ideas from M:lrxisl. environmental and ocher radical groups fro m Europe and ahe United States. b) The c re:uion of a solid base of lead- ON O\'crcome m order to achieve effective pohucal parttcipation. This lack of leadershtp w;u patently ob,ious durmg the recent congressional elections. Although a good number of Indian candtdatcs ran for offiee, only fiveout of a congress with eighty mem- bers-were clec•ed. Abstentionism added 1 the fact that Ma)oan candi0 dates were virtually unknown, guaran· aced this result. Remarkably, the five winning candidates ran wilh right· wing parties. An urgent imperative for Maya org.1nizations ls to ..train.. new leaders who can act as catalysts for the thoughtS and feelings of the Ma)'3n people <)Clarification and unification of realistic goals and objectives. The current debate 0\'er ahe Mayan Vol. 8 No. 3 E LECTORA L PROCESS autonom. lS a perfect cx.•mple of confuSIOn Wlthm the lndrgcnous movement of tiS 0\\'ll pohucal objecd,·es. When lndtgenous nglus. Ma)oan education. the Guatemalan lndrgenous Fund, and that some nght-\\1ng panres demonstrated ao''"'rd Rtos Mont must be seen by the lndtgenous mo"cment ;u represemmg a range of possibtlilies for par- compulsory milnary service-to men· lion just n (cw national issues-are must take ad,oamage of the liberal added 10 subject of autonomy, the con- ticipation. The lnd1genous movement mindsets of the ccmer.right panics' younger gcncmtions, fusion becomes even more app.1rem. The Mayan org,1nizmions. independent of ahe mearlS they decide to adopt, must together clanfy their objectives and sea goals for the short and longrun. The current political confusion naturally suppons the St..ae~ argument that·· the Mayas don' know what they want or wht:rt they w3nt to go: \Ve muse recogruzt: m :td\'3nce that this process or clanficauon and unificalion of goals does not nooess.1nly imply a political homogeniution. Unity within di\·ersit)' h.._'\5 sustained the mo\'emem up to now. l11is claim is supponed by way In which the d ifferem Indigenous froms united In opposition 10 the 500 years celebration . ership. The lack of Maya leaders is another challenge the mo\'ement will have 10 THE d) Political education at the community level. In Guatemala, the Maya ,,;II ha"e 10 redirect their effons 10\\'ard an effecti\'e pohucal pantctpauon Within the commumues. In :1 country where power ts htghly cenamliud, traditional pohucs have completely neglected the rural areas. The consolidation of Maya o rganizations throughout the country is the best indication that cffons for political educ.1tion at the community level arc feasible. In this sense. the army also has recognized the political potential of the rural areas through the Civil Self-Defense patrols. c) A relations hip with the moderate right. The senous constderauon of possible rebuons \\1th a Congress dominated by nght·Wlng parttes hos become necessary. The strong mllial opposuion 0 Dc~minorizntion of the n'Htjorily. In a country where the Mayan majority has always been perceived and treated like a m•nonay, it is necessary to intelhgenaly demonstrate ahe numencal posstbihues. In principle. poh11cs as a numbers game. The lnd•genous mo\'cmcnt must take ad\'antage of liS maJonty status 10 win 1he necessary SOCial and economic changes. g) Continuing diplomatic work at the international level. The Mayan people must cominue to carry out diplomocy nt a global level. This has been an extremely effec1ive political aool that would be unwise 10 neglect. In ahe final analysts, the new generations of Guatent3lan Ma)'aS. the so-called ·children of repressaon: have the greatest challenges and responsabthttes toward their people. The challenges they confront are many. and changes at the national. regional and global le,-el are rapid. Achieving change at the nauonul levcl ,,;II depend on a realistic vision of goals and political means congruent with global political c hanges. Posa-war Guatemala represents a nother challenge at ahc macro-social level for contemporary Mayans. Having been born and raised in waNime, the new Maya generations, as well as the new nttSHZO generotions. will have 10 look for \\'a)'S of peaceful and respectful cocx~Sicnee tn a multicultural and multihngual country hke Guatemala. All Guaacmabns \\111 ha,·e 10 tnsist on the possibrlny of umty wllhtn di,·ersity. .., 13 �PERSPEC TI VES ON TH E EL EC TORAL PR O CES S Special Indian Districting: Unresolved Political Problems in Colombia Members of the Colombian Indigenous movement are now trying to critically evaluate the movement's political participation in order to surpass the constraints that have kept many Indigenous objectives out of reach. The following article reflects this process of self·criti· cism. as well as the movement's search for new solutions. by A lfonso Palma Capera and Oskar Benjamin Gutierrez W ithout doubt one of the worst "hettdaches" that the Indigenous movement has endured is the problem of electoral panicipation. In 1990, when Lorenzo Muelas, Alfonso Pena Chepe and Francisco Rojas 6irry panicipated in construction of Colombia's new constitution the}' were sure that il would be extremely difficult to carry out the reforms they were outlining. Four years and two parliamentary elections later. Indigenous political panicipationwithin those spaces that Indigenous peo· pie themselves have forced open-is in deep crisis due to the political inexperi- ence of Indigenous representatives. lack of unity among Indigenous organizations and panics. and failure to skillfully manage relationships with the govermncnt. On March 13 of this yMr, Indigenous communities elccu~d Lorenzo Muclas and Gabriel Mujuy as their representatives to the Senate thanks to the system of Special ElectOral Oistricting (CEE), one of the most imponant political achievements of seats in the senate for Indigenous candidates. The CEE allows Indigenous "lists" (names on the party ticket) registered under the special district to compete fo r these scats independently or the senate races for the other one hundred scats within the National Electoral District. The Indigenous movement won the CEE through its advanced level of organization in a bitter struggle with the traditional institutions. It should not in any way be seen as a gift from the Colombian state. The proliferation of ettndidates this year~ight different Indigenous listsreflected the moven1ents lack of unity. In many cases, the vote was split even within the same ethnic group. Many Indigenous people who wanted to suppon their own cause did not know for whom to vote. Not knowing the candidates, the electorate was forced to decide "by sight" which candidate on the ballot seemed to represent their cause. The Indigenous candidates used their experience in previous clec· tions, and attempted to extend their the Colombian Indigenous movcmcm. appeal to the population in general and Article 176 of the revised constitution capture votes in non·lndigenous cotnmu· created the CEE as a system reserving two nities. This may explain why only three Indigenous parties registered their list Alfo>~so Palma Cap<ra is the jon>1er prtside>ll of under the CEE. while five sought office lht National lncligenous Organitation of through the National Electoral District, Colombia (ONIQ. Oskar Benjamin Culitm:z is competing with the other political groups a journalist and ONIC collaborator. under equal conditions. 14 The results were clear. On one hand, the Indigenous vote was diluted. This reflects d isunity and lack or coordination among so many candidates, but it also reflects the immense level of abstention among ethnic minorities. On the other hand, the large number of votes obtained by some Indigenous candidates in the urban areas suggests that non.Jndian vot· ers looked to Indigenous candidates as an alternative capable of generating debate with the traditional panics. First Experience Three different lists registered for the 1992 senate and chamber of deputies elections. The first was headed by Gabriel Muyuy for the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC): the second, was backed by the Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (AICO) headed by Floro Alberto Tunubala; and the third. that of the Indigenous Social Alliance headed by Antonio Quira GauM was created by a faction of the Indigenous movement especially for electOral participation and registered within the national district. For the first time in Colombian history, three Indians held scats in the senate as representatives of their own communities. The Indigenous lists succeeded in that moment largely due to their usc of an Indigenous program of action titled "The i>J:Jya Yala News �PE R SPEC TI VES Colombia that We Want.• This platform reflected a conception of Indians not as islands. but as part of a diverse country, and reached out to all the sectors of the country. It was grounded in culture, plurality and tolerance and called the nationstateS attention to a new and independent discourse with alternative proposals. This proposal was elaborated by working groups at the local. regional and national levels d\Jring the National Constitutional Assembly. These groups sought to develop a clear legislative agenda and plan the new constitution's design and implementation. These work groups. however. were not re~assembled in fol~ lo" ;ng years. and the task of continuing to develop an Indigenous policy was left to the regional organizations which gener· ally lack the advice and resources available to Indigenous Senators. ON TH E E L EC T O R A L PROCESS paigns without first drawing lines to dis- irresponbilities tinguish the two activities. In this way obtained some important seats (ma)•ors, congressmen. senators), but who lacked leaders of some organizations enter polit- ical life and never return to work with their organizations. This situation has made many indigenous organizations skeptical and concerned about the rela· tionship between politics and the organi- zations. For this reason the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) did not endorse any candidate in this election and does not plan to do so in the future, considering that doing so f could deepen existing divisions. or candidates who training and experience in govemment. Minorities Supported? Operation of the special electOral district which Indian groups fought for so long to establish is now being questioned. Its establishment probably numerically increases minority representation and pennits those sectors less involved with traditional politics to reach office. But there is also the risk that this mechanism could distort the expression of the ethnic Alliances and Alternatives In order to gain access to public office. Indigenous candidates have sought the support of different movements that do not represent Indigenous interests. Several of the Indigenous candidates ran with the Conservative and Liberal parties. communities political will. Since voting within the special districts is not closely regulated, majorities may end up decid- ing \\•ho is elected in the name of the minorities. Many sectors within Colombia request a stricter regulation of the Disuicting. in order to strengthen the eth- The Problems Increase nic communities· participation . In spite of the political space obtained. the participation and inOuence of Indigenous peoples in projects and discussions has been limited due to the dis- The problems described above have resulted in the loss of many votes o f those ·clean" candidates or programs for gov- advantage of having only two senators as ernment. compared The Colombian Indigenous movement is now suffering from a state of apathy, finding hope only in what new laws can offer, rather than pressuring the State through marches and mobilizations. The to ninety from Colombians who did not find new or the Conservative and Liberal parties and ten from other sectOrs. In addition to the corruption of these political entities. Indigenous representatives' progratns have received little respect. As a politically inexperienced minority, the Indigenous representatives have not been able to resist the machinations of the traditional parties. Confusion Between Organizations and Parties presence of the Indian parliamentarians has helped establish the fundamental rights of ethnic groups and to open spaces One of the first Indian scnotors. Anatotio Ouira. played a k<ty rote in promoting Indian potitical participation d uring his tctm in otftec. for participation. However, it is now nee· essary for them to work toward recon· struction or their own fragmented forces in order to jointly face the t raditional political establishment. Common p roposals must be elaborated to fonn an electoral strategy capable of uniting with In addition, the Indigenous movement suffers serious internal problems. The ln consequence, many Colombians who previously saw the Indian candidates as a organizations have not completed enough respite from the political panorama were dis.,ppoimed at these alliances and the appearance that the Indian parties were immediately falling into the same old political customs. These doubts have committed to this end, and the communi· ties themselves will verify its develop been reinforced by the inefficiencies and ment. .., basic work with their members to help them differentiate clearly between the political campaigns and their organizations. Regional organizations frequently support their members' political camVOl. 8 No. 3 other sectors proposals who have tradi· tionally shown solidarity with 1ndigenous peoples. The Indigenous movement is 4 15 �I H T E R H A T I 0 H A L ~_ _ _ _ __ Barbados Ill: On Democracy and Diversity We ptint below excerpts from the third declaration by the Barbados group of social scientists. The Barbados I declaration was an early and extremely Influential document written by an intematlonal group of academics In support of Indigenous people 's struggles. It is accompanied by an introduction by Stefano Varese. one of the group's founding members.' n 1971, on the Isle of &rbados. a Six )'<31'S !:Iter, an 1977, the group met by Abya Yala Press m Quuo) auempt to group of L:mn Amencan anthropolo- again an Barbados. thas ume accompanied clarify some of these problems and conIJlStS met under the auspices or the by a matehang number of Indigenous tribute to the construction of a more just vn"·erstt)' of Zunch, Swuzerland. and the leaders and antelltctuals. By this time, the and dtgniOed future for the Indigenous World Councal of Churches. The meeting Latin American pohtical context had suf. people. took place at a time when the expansion fered a radacal change. The national polit· of development in Amazonian Indigenous ical projects for rcfom1 In Chile, Peru, Barbados Ill Declaration: territories was escalating and when Bolh•ia and Panama had been defeated Articulation of Diversity dependent capitolism's modernization and the most violent forms of State More than two d ecades after our forst project met wilh strong resistance from repression and terrorism had been insti· declaration ( 197 1). the members of the the Indigenous and peasont peoples o f the tuted in a great number of coumries in Barbados Group gathered in Rio de Andes and Meso-America. the region. An armed revolutionary strug· janeiro. Bmzil. to rcOcct on the situation Simplistic political interpretations gle seemed a real possibihty to many of of the lndagenous peoples in Latin which employed an analytical framewo rk the continental Indigenous mO\'Cments. America and to document the persistence overly concerned wath economic issues The &rbados II Decl>rauon reOected this of secular forms of dommation and had the reahty of ethnic conflicts during new reahty. Unfonun:uely us impact on exploitation that affect them. The develthat neocolomal penod. LeftiStS argued nauonal SOCICUes and the organized opment of new forms or colonization th.'i only the tnumph of a socialist revo- lndtgenous mo\'emtnt was not of the ha\·e aggra\'ated th1s SHU3uon. \Ve arc lution would soh·c the problems which same magnnude as the previous one. witnesses 1n each of our countries to the 1ndagenous groups faced. Finall)•. In December 1993. the repeated Y10l3ll0n5 of thetr right tO life, The &rb:ldos I Declaration which Barbados Group met agaan m Rio de their dignity, and to the cultural a.nd resulted from that meeting. and the long Janeiro, 8raztl, tOasses the situation of the human uni,·ersc of their local expressions. book documenung it, had strong reper· Indigenous populations in the context of At the same time we connrm the cussions among ::tcademics, the indigenist the sudden anack of Nco· Liberalism and Indian peoples' will to resist and to live. sectors of the State bureaucracies. renewed fonns of Nco-Imperialism. The expressed through the multiplicotion or Catholic and Protcsumt missionaries, and. new conditions facing the 1ndigcnous their ethno-politlcal organizations, and or most of all. among org.1nized Indigenous movement m the end of the second mil- the daily afr.nnation of cultural speciOcigroups. Barbados I took on a life of its lennium include the collapse of the ties that manifest the resilience of their own among some Indian organizations in socialist "utopia." the veniginous expan· civili.z:ations. Latin Amenca. who adopted it and used it sion of drug trJfficking. the involvement The above stated. together with as an anstrument or struggle. of the Unated States in the promotion and lndigneous peoplrs' demographic - - - repressaon of drug traffickang. and the rise growth. defies the current proJCCI of glob· Sttftl110 \llrnt Is Prc{tsSC< of Nali•'< Ameritml and urgency of envaronmental issues. alization. whach leads us towards a worldand Chila"" Stud~ at lht University of The Barbados lll Declaration. a.nd the \\ide homogemzouon that as enforced by book that attompanaes it (to be published the expansJon of and dominauon by a CalifMil4'" ~ll I 16 �IHT £ RHATIOH A L western-oriented integrationist market system, whose technical, economic and Ideological projects recewe multi-national flnoncing. The umlonnuy bemg pursued has genemted profound political, economic and social asymmetry, C\'eO in the dominant countries. The individualist and competitive Neo-Liberal discourse masks the real make-up or the growing inequality and or the conOict between nauons. ethnic groups, classes and other soc1al groups. creaung an illusory equality, when in reality it confronts nation against nation, people agninst people, community against community. This is contmry to the spirit or solidarity of communities which is mor.: conducive to human kinship. A world without alternate communities, wuhout differentiated social groups, would be a world condemned to a lack ol creativity and fraternal loyolti<s. Just as for centuries each ethnic group was forced to integmtc and incorporate itself into the ineffable vtnues of an illdefined national life. the same compulsive proposition is currently made to latin American countries. wtth the intent of cementing their imegrauon nod incorpora~ tion into a planetary order controlled by a type or transnational oligopoly. Simultaneously. the scientific knowl· edge brought by ecology. together with the well-founded warnings or environmentahsm. ha,·e been mtsmterpre<ed and redefined by a tendency Wlthm this social movement. It seeks to impose the theory or the global management of natural resources but h ignores or minimizes the vernacular 'visdom and knowledge. considering them incapable or creating a global environmental solution. Howe,·er. th1s knowledge constitutes the social bases that maintain the bases or biodiversity m the world. Today. the forces that dominate the regions with the grMtest biodiversity have grown. Territories that were before the exclusive lands of Indigenous peoples \<ol8 No.3 have been opened to colonizing expansion Wlth the purpose of expropriating the trop1cal regions' enonnous natural reserves hke oil. minerals, umber and hydroelectric sources. This distonang tendency presents obstacles to the alliance of the diverse human coznmunilics that defend the ownership and usage of the natural resources under a socio-environ· rnentahst current. which constitutes one of the most accurate and cffcc:dve criti· CISmS of the Neo-liberal premistS of unlimited growth. V...'e observe the existence of processes istic. united. nnd complementarily-articulaced societies. The fragile Latin American Democmctes, still monopohzed by the inttreslS of conservati\'e sectors who in their majority descend Irom old European and colonial elites. have failed to generate the political spaces or legislative and admlnistmtive mechanisms necessary to allow Indigenous people to progress in butldmg their own future. ln pantcular. mihtary 1deologies which frequently degenemtc into geo-political paranoia, see Indigenous societies as potentially subfor ethnic reaffirmation. conducive not versive groups which threaten national only to cultuml reproduction but also to unity, mther than as different peoples. the recovery of loyalties and potrimonies Indigenous peoples demands lor territorwhich were apparently lost. In the face or this the domanont Democracy. as the philosophy of a SOCltty responds with new ronns Western social system. is centered for the destruction or diversity. on the individual and excludes collecwith obstacles and repressive tives like Indigenous peoples i>Oiitical and judicial changes. Furthermore, the persistence of multiple lonns of racism that clisquahly and destroy .. ,periences or alter- ial reorg.1nlzation and more cultural and noll\'( Civilizations is generating processes lingUtsuc •utonomy are thus seen as sepor "de-lndianization: which lgiiOr<S the anutst effons. fact that each culture destroyed or termiWe exhort the presidents ol the nated is an Irretrievable loss lor the whole republics ol Latin America to comply with the promise made to the Indigenous peoof humanity. Democracy, as the philosophy of a ples ht the Declamtion of Guadalajam \Vestcrn social system. is centered on the (Mexico, july 1991). In which they ind1v1dual and e.'cludes coll<ctives like solemnly promised to ensure their ecolnd1genous peoples. ln thts way an objec- nomiC and social well being. as well as to ti\•ely VIable plurality has been denied at the obhgauon of respecting their rights the hngmstic, social, economic and cul- and cultural identity. We also belie"e it tural levels. The deferred democmtization necessary to approve the Chaner of the of L.1tin America will continue to be an Rights of Indigenous Peoples which the empty discourse and favorable only to the UN promoted as well as the International groups with hegemonic power if it does labor Org.1nizat ion~ Convention 169. We hkewise demand that legislative not take mto account the nect':SS.1ry rede· l'inuion of the current States' territorial, and JUdiCI31 powers and pohucal panics pohucal, social and cultuml spaces. frame their Jaws. resolutions and activities Buildang future democracy Wlll require an with respect lor ethnic pluralism and the increase in the presence and representa· inalienable rights to Hie. land. freedom tion of different cultural communities and and democracy. And especially. for them the respect for their political logic, which to carry through an effective effort to •viii contribute to the formation of plural- guarantee the respect for these rights at 11 �INTERNATIONAL tial of political projects upon which Indigenous organizations embark. where Indigenous peoples live. \:Ve recognize the initiatives fonnulated We believe that the Indigenous organiin re<:enl years b)' international organiza.* zations should reflect on these problems tions (United Nations, UNESCO, and re<:tify the individualist and competiOrganization of American States, UNICEF. tive behaviors of those leaders who have OIT and others) in favor of the Indigenous diSianocd themselves from the spirit of solpeoples of the continent and the world. idarity in which their organizations were Nonetheless the results have been limited. fonned. This is the only guarantee for More pressure and vigilance regarding progress toward the crystallization of a just Indigenous peoples' current situation is society. no1 only for the Indigenous people necessary. The imcmational organizations but for all of the oppressed sectors of must pressure the latin American heads-of- humanity. state to ratify and comply with internationMany of Latin Americas intellectuals al conventions on Indigenous peoples.. . continue to produce speeches referring to There is a simplistic and erroneous supposedly homogeneous national com\~Sion of what Indigenous panicip:.:uion munities. devaluing or lending a folk stigshould be in the actions and elaboration of ma to altemate cultural presences. ll is lndigenist policies, in the formulation of equally neocssary 1 mention the historical 0 community programs and of aid, and in the respot>Sibility that belongs tO the right wing polilical process of mobilization of the civil- in the fonnulation of the ideological paraian society itself. Such perspective assumes digms that guide the cultural and physical repression of Indigenous peoples. On the other hand, some A world without alternate communities. dogmatic sectors -guided by thewithout differentiated social groups, oretical mistakes- produced would be a world condemned to a lack political practices that have conof creativity and fraternal loyalties. tributed 1 the repression of eth0 nicity by considering it coumerthat Indigenous peoples simply copy mod· productive to the cla..<S struggle... II is also neocssary to realize a radical els of or ganization fron1 unions or other sectors of the population. The ethnic conti- questioning of some currents in the social nuity of Indigenous peoples cannot be sole- sciences and in ctrtain anthroJX>logy which ly understood as tenitorial control, but il is oriented more toward the aesthetic and requires the incorporation of political con- Sterile critique of its own disciplines than to ceptions that are part of the diversity of political thought and action. This is also the their cultures. case of a sector of linguistics that does not Indigenous organizations have fulfilled cooper.ne with ethnic cotnmunities, as well a fundamental role in the revindication of as not favoring the most appropriate the rights of the peoples they represent and methodologies for codifying. recovering in the construction of spaces for dialogue and consolidating autochthonous lanwith ea.ch other and national and interna- guages. tional powers. V.le cannot omilthat some of There ha\·e been advances in 1he fommtheir leaders have abused the mandate they lation of bilingual and intercultural educareocived from their peoples and communi- tional policies, but these are far from being ties to embark upon a career of personal implememed. Education often plaocs chilaccumulation and power. When they dren against the family environment-even a5Sllme the Criollo model of Clientelismo. from the pre-school level-at critical times and, more than a few times. of com..1ption, of primary socialization and learning of these leaders not only discredit themselves their m.other tongue. This results in a subbut they threaten the continuity and poten- sequent deculturation in which languages the level of the regions or territories 18 are convened into crutches for the acquisition of the dominant language and their own culture is lOSt to the hegemonic society. 'Whereas until now the State as well as private and religious groups has used the formal educat.ional system to undennine ethnic identity. the school can eventual!>' become a factor for cultuml reproduction if Indigenous people effectively appropriate il for their own historical and cultural imer· estS. .. Indigenous people have an undeniable right 1 their history and cultural heritage. 0 II is the obligation of the State and of secular society 1 promote an orderly and effec0 tive process for returning the knowledge collected on such peoples. A process of Latin American democnuization that effectively includes Indigenous peoples 'viii not be viable if it does not take imo account the necessity for geopolitical re-ordering that contemplates the specificities of Indigenous peoples' territoriality. In this sense. the concept of "peoples" corresponds to socially-organized human popu· lations which are ethnically defined and endowed with a spacial dimension that is their territory. This is conceived as the confines defined by the total and struciUred SCI of ecological. social and symbolic relations between a society and the geographical continuous or discontinuous space upon which it acts. This should include the numerous cases in which Indigenous peoples have been divided by State borders. where it is their right to aspire to circulate freely in the tenitory of these bordering r~ations, in accordance wilh their situations. In any case, tenitOrial autonomy ,viii imply not ot\ly decision-making in the case of tt..1..tural and economic resource use but also in political and cultural self-detern>ination, in the framework of a self-dctcnnination COtnpatible with and complementary to the sovereignty of national States. '!I Rio de janeiro. December 10 . 1993. Th~ full ltXl of rhis declaration is a\'ailablt upon request from SAIIC, or can bt fmmd in the SAIIC conj<rtne< (SAIIC.fndlo) on P<actnc<. I>Jyya Y News ala �SE L F DETERM I NAT I ON AND T E R RI T O RY Ecuador: Second Indigenous Uprising Secures Concessions on Agrarian Reform by Robert A ndoUna bill through congress. Over the objections of CONAIE and other popular organizaEcuadorian Indigenous move- tions. President Sixto Dulin Ballen signed mentS capacity to mobilize tnasses of the bill into law on june 13. supponers to defend the interests of this Indigenous organizations rejected country$ Indigenous population . In a numerous aspects of this law that either mobilization reminiscent of the landmark ignored or threatened interests or uprising in 1990, Indigenous org:mizations Indigenous agricuhurnl communities, as nationwide blocked the country$ roads and well as those of 90% of the rural populahighways. in order to prevent implementa· tion. The law would have encouraged the tion of a new ..Law for Agricultural disappearance o£ Indigenous communal Development" enacted by the government lands in order to promote fom>ation of agrias p.tn of its structural adjustment pro- cultural "enterprises." Rodrigo Carrillo, gram. For a tw<Hveek period, commerce member of the press conunission for the throughout Ecuador ground practically to a Indigenous Movement of Chimborazo halt. As with the uprising four years ago. (MICH) explained, "You cannot simply Indigenous organizations paralyzed much conven Indigenous communal production of the country, endured military repression, imo agricultural businesses. This law forcing the government into negotiations, imposes a vision of agriculture that doesn' and finally emerging with significant gov- fit within Indigenous thought and practice: Indigenous organizations were outraged ernmental concessions in hand. Over 3,500 Indigenous communities as not only by the law~ content but by the well as campesino and popular organiza- undemocratic and unconStitutional me.th· tions mobilized under the leadership of the ods used by the Social Christian Pany to Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities railroad it through congress. The National of Ecuador (CONAIE) the National Agrarian Commission (CAN), formed by Ecuadorian Federation of Camj)<Sino and CONAIE and other Indigenous peasant Indigenous Organizations (FENOC-1}, and organizations, had drafted (over a period of the Evangelical Federation of Indigenous two years) a detailed proposal for refom> of Ecuadorians (EFIE). Over the course of two the nations agrarian laws and had submitweeks. at least five Indigenous acth;Sts ted it to the legislature for consideration. were killed and many more were hospital- The President and the legislature completeized, mostly from gun shot wounds. An ly ignored this project. unknown number were jailed. In addition, the PSC failed to submit the Panies from throughout the political proposed law to each member of congress spectrum have debated refonn of the coun- for consideration at least 15 da)'S prior to try$ outdated agrarian ktws for years. On passage, as required by law. CONAIE criti· May 18. the conservative Social Christian cized the politicians for disobeying the funPany (PSC) forced a radically new agrarian damental laws of the land, for excluding the intereSts and participation of Indigenous Robert Andolina is a grad1uzte student in Latin people in the development of the law. and American Studies al the University ofTtx(IS, and for their refusal to develop a law of nationha.s volunt«r<d , ;ch CONAIE in Quiro. al consensus instead of one that serves the T his june, international observers were once again stunned by the Vol. 8 No.3 interests of a small, wealthy sector of the population. For all of these reasons. CONAIE convened an emergency assembly on June 7 and 8 to prepare for a national "Mo,;lizaci6n por Ia Vida" (Mobilization for Life) to protest the law iJ il \vere to go into effect. CONAIE released a resolution calling for repeal of the Agrarian Development law. The resolution addressed other issues, to Stop unrestrained oil exploration and persecution of Indigenous leaders among other demands. Fundamentally, however, the mobilization was called to protest the PSCs Agrarian La'v. Ecuador Paralyzed On june 13, President Dur.ln signed the Agrarian bill into law. Indigenous protes· tors converged on strategic points, building roadblocks that paralyzed much of the country Demonstrations in urban areas and occupations of public buildings also took place. Ten provinces in all 'vere heavily affected. Despite the government and mass mediaS distonion of events. protestors remained firm in the Streets and the blockades were very effective. Albeno Saeteros, Secretary of the Provincial Union of Cooperatives and Indigenous Communities of Cat,ar (UPCCC) Stated, "Here in Cai\ar we met \vith the people in the communities to explain to them the negative effects or the law, and we then wem out to paralyze traffic to the nonh, south, and west." Ignacio Grefa, President of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Napo (FOIN) reponed. "We maintained the roadblock for a week -nothing got through." Non-Indigenous campesinos, workers and some urban citizens expressed consid· erable sotidarit)' for the mobilization and 19 �5 ELF 0 E TERM I ~ A T I 0 ~ A~ D TERR I T 0 R Y- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Indigenous Community Center Destroyed uring the "Mobiliuuion for Life," a major community center belonging to the Union of Cooperatives and Indigenous Communities of CaMr Province (UPCCC) was a{{acked and burned to the ground. The UPCCC is Canars regional Indigenous organization and is affiliated with CONAIE. The D following are excerpts from an interview 'vith UPCCC Se<:retary General Albeno S.-u~teros. Why did the auack take p lace? Who kets. nor poisoned the water like they damages, and was involved? claimed. The attack itself was very violent. They came with pistols. homemade cannons, and tear gas. One of our activists, that the government offer compensation . Have you received 3 tl)' financial -As you know. we participated fully in the mobilization called by CONAIE in opposition to the recently passed Agrarian Oevelopmem law. This law was not only illegal, but also threatened the interests of Indigenous people. We cut the area off by blocking the main highways. Because we were winning in the struggle. the followers o f Jaime Nebot and the PSC (Social Christian Pany) decided in desperation to a"ack us. It wasn't just because of the mobilization, but also because of our alternative market which cut the '"'middleman" out of the sale of our products. We were. therefore, competing 'vith the Manuel Mestas Yupa Yupa died from a bullet wound to the head . We also had 38 injuries and a number of disappearances. Many poople are still unaccount· ed for. The community center was sacked and burned. What d id the police and military do during the auack? ·They did a lmost nothing to prevent or inhibit the attack. Moreover, the military shut down our radio station which made it difficult for us to communicate speculators living in the area, many of with the people. to tell them what was whom are Nebot supporters. happening. Indigenous leaders have Additionally. we were a{{acked because of long-standing racism against Indigenous people. been pursued and in some cases jailed. Right now we are conducting investigations into the action or the police and )'OU have demanded help from the state? -No. We haven't received a cent. And from other sources? -A little. Some popular sectors have offered assistance both in terms of money and labor to help us rebuild . \¥e have a couple of new machines in the carpentry center, and we should have a new FAX machine soon. But as you can see, this is a very small part of the rebuilding that needs to be done. For thi.s reason. we are calling on our allies and sympathizers here in Ecuador and in the international community to show their solidarity by sending us financial suppon so that we can rebuild our office and community center. Many people here ' viii benefit if we can rebuild. mili1ary during the a{{ack and during What happe ned during t he auac k itself? -The a{{ack was carefully orchestrated by a relatively small group of people; the general population was not against us, nor were we against them. This small group told all sons of lies in order to make us look bad and to justify what they did. We never auacked the mar- 20 the mobilization as a whole. What was damaged during the auack? -Everything. Nothing was left untouched. The damage t<xal has exceeded 10 billion sucres ($5 million). U PCCC h as argued that the govern- ment is in part responsible for Lhc Do you have any final comments? This attack was motivated by a desire on our enemies pan to break the will of the Indigenous leadership and the movement here in Cat'lar. Although our office is destroyed. our determination is not. 'J!le will continue with our struggle. In fact, we are more determined and unified than ever. ~aYala News �SELF offered their suppon. Ldt and center-left political panies demanded the Agrarian law be revoked. Hector Villamil. President of the Organiz.11ion of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OI'IP) noted , "Some campesinos and workers mobilized with us. We see this as a positive and significant change. ln the 1992 OPIP March on Quito many campesino-colonists reacted against us." According to Rodrigo Carrillo of MICH. · tn general, the people of Riobamba (capital of Chimborazo province) understood the imponant role of Indigenous producers in the supply of staple foods and offered us help during the mobilization." DETERMINATION Security forces also threatened or shut down Indigenous and popular radio sta· tions in Tungurahua. Cotopaxi, Chimbcr razo. and Cat)ar. making it difficult for activists to transmit news tO the population at large regarding human rights violations and violence perpetrated by the military and para-military forces. Fortunately, the military was more restrained in some regions. Hector Villamil , president of OPIP. reponed, · we in Pastaza are lucky not to have experienced repression this time. Before, we considered the military and police to be enemies, so we see this as a TERRITORY include two representatives of lndigenouslpeasant organizations on its executive council. Ownership of water will remain public, and more emphasis 'viii be gi\'en to production of food for internal consumption to meet the needs of Ecuadorian soci· ety. It also recognizes Indigenous agricultural knowledge, and respects the cultural and social valt~es of the ,,.rious peoples who are involved in agricuhural activities. lmponantly, the reformed law also calls for continuation and improvement of the agrarian refom1, including land distribution. as well as increased access 10 credit, good sign. However, we technical assistance. and better infrastruc.. denounce the repression that took place in other provinces. and for that we remain suspicious of the anncd forces... M ilitary Counter-Mobilization A week after the tnobilization began. President Durftn offered to negotiate. CONAIE. however. found the presidents Commission For Dialogue mediation commission wlacceptable. stat- Formed ing that its representation was heavily CONAIE leaders in hiding called for an weighted in favor of the govcmmem and end to the militarization and organized a the landowners. mediation commission composed of The following day, President Duran national and international religious and declared a military "State of Mobilization," human rights representatives. Under conand decreed that blockaders would receive siderable national and intemational pres· one to three year jail tem\s. Arrest warrants sure, the president agreed to lift the state of were issued for Indigenous lc.~ders, includ- mobilization and agreed to a compromise ing the CONAIE leadership. Highways and on the committees formation. Congress Indigenous communities were occupied by also pledged to revise the agricultural law. the security forees. Although protestors Negotiations began on june 30 and contin· abandoned highways peacefully when the ued into mid-July. military arrived, several were killed and dozens or possibly hundreds were injured. The Struggle's Results: Words or Police sa,,.gely beat protestors, includ- Substance? ing children. in the provinces of Cotopaxi The negotiations, like all those where and Chimborazo. In what was perhaps the actors with vastly different interests take MobilizationS worst moment, a mob of pan, were tonuously difficult. Perhaps in Social Christian Pany supponers attacked an effon to save face. President Duran. on and destro)•ed the office and community the one hand hailed the dialogue as a succenter of the UPCCC in Cat ar. The com· cess. while also stating that only words but ) munitycemerserved tosuppon alternative not substance had changed. However, it is fomt of education. commerce and medicine the nature of law.making that words are more suited to the needs of Cm)ar's substance. The refom1ed law-which wem Indigenous and poor peoples. One into effect on Aug. 3-did include real Indigenous activist was killed and thiny- improvements for lndigneous peoples, eight injured in the auack. which also camfJtSinos and Ecuadorian society in gen. reduced a market , carpentry center. library. eral. It will penn it the maintenance of comcomputer center. radio station. fax and munitarian. cooperative. and small-holder photocopy machines. and several \'Chides fonns of agrarian organization. The new to ashes (see accompanying intel"'ocw). state agrarian development agency 'viii Vol. 8 No.3 AND ture. It demands the protection of national parks and reserves, and recognizes Indigenous peoples' rightS to live from and manage forests. Finally. the law calls for the fomlation of markets tltat pennit indige· nous a.nd peasant prod\1 cers to cut out speculati'" middlemen. Indigenous peoples gains in this mobi· lization go beyond these legal refom\S. Again, the movement demonstrated its strength. This time, Indigenous people sat f~ce to f~ce at the bargaining table \vith those who used to be their "patrons" (land· lords). As described by Rodrigo Carrillo of MlCH, "The government now knows that it has to include the interests and panicipa· tion of Indigenous people in the future. We arc now recognized as thinking human beings 'vith rights, not as lazy animals." Ignacio Grefa commented on the process, ..V.le have won new political space and have fonified the space we earned in the 1990 uprising. In that sense this is just a contin· uation or that mobilization and of our struggle for the past 500 years. This struggle 'viii continue in the future." '!I For adclirfonal infonnalion: UPCCC. Correo Centro! CMar. Ca!'lar, Ecuador Fa.x: (593 7) 235 266 To contriblltCIO lite n:buildir;g of llu: UPCCC com· munizy ctntcr . plwsc saul Cashier's Ot«hs ma.cle our to UPCCC, to: CO:-IAIEAv. de Los Gmnados 2553 y 6 de Didembrec.stlb 1717·1235EI 8.11:m. Quito Ecuador. Specify on the chedc that it is for UPCCC. 21 �SELF DETERMI~ATIO~ A~D T ERRITORY Original Nations and Bi Iateral agreements with the Bolivian Government Governments and corporations across Latin America are turning to limited two-party agreements as a means to resolve conflicts with increasingly forceful Indigenous orga· nizations. As experiences in Bolivia demonstrate, this "bilateralism · offers certain gains. but in the process challenges the Indian movement's unity and strength. his year. SAIIC received reports from Bolivia pointing out parallels between several connicts that were settled through bilateral agreemems T Guarani were Hving under conditions of virtual slavery on the cattle ranches of the Gran Chaco. Among those cattle ranchers between Indigenous organizations and the government. h> large pan. these are driven by the new assertiveness of rently practice debt·peonage are several politicians of the the governing MNR party and of the opposition righHving Bolh;a's' National Secretary for Ethnic Affairs, which has take11 a leadership role in brokering such agreements. The three pany. This year, a congressional investigation launched by Guarani congressman Sihri.o Arnmayo and others in Bolivia's who have stolen Guarani lands and cur· cases below offer some interesting exam- house of deputies found that the earlier ples from three very different regions. estimate was extremely conservative, and Guarani: Debt-peonage and Bilateral Commissions that the actual number of Guarani living in debt-peonage is closer to 40,000. The Guarani successfully mobilized on the heels of this publicity. Their Since our report on the Guarani of Mato Grasso do Sol, Brazil, in the last journal. the political conditions for the Guarani lh;ng on the Bolivian side of their territory have improved slightly. Within Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, the Guarani, remain one of the most tragic examples or systematic racial discrimination in the Americas: living as landless peasants \vithin systems of debt-peonage. Suffering from poverty and repression, \vith a territory that is fragmented by the borders of four nation states, they have been unable to regroup and make their demands as a unified people. Last year, national attention in Bolivia focused for a brief moment on the Guara11i after press accoums that 10,000 22 largest organization. the Guarani Peoples Assembly, threatened to march on the capital if the government of Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada and Aymara Vice-President Cardenas did not respond to their demands of free· dom for all enslaved workers and the return of ancestral territories. The government invited Guarani representa· tives to negotiate. and the march was deferred . Three bilateral commission s com· posed of government representatives and Guarani delegates were formed as a result of this dialogue. Each a imed at solving one of the Guarani$ key problems: land, labor, and political participation. Guarani delegates Guido Chumiray. Envin Cuellar and Marcelino Robles signed the prelirni· nary agreement with representatives from the governmentS two ..supcr·mlnistries'" o, Human Development and Sustainable Development, as well as those of minor ministries such as Ethnic Affairs. Guido Chumiray, stated: · when we implement the agreement to solve the concrete problems of land and labor, the Guarani people 'viii hopefully regain territories and labor rights that belong to us. This is a not a favor given to us by the government. It is our right. V..1e deserve it... Indigenous Organizations Sign with Loggers in the Beni Deforestation continues to spread across the Bolivian Amazon-at the rate of 80,000 hectares last year alone. In the northern Amazonian province of Beni, Indigenous organizations will finally expel three logging companies from the Multi-ethnic Indian Territory (TIM) \vith· in the Chimanes Forest region which stretches from the Andean foothills to the Beni's extensive savannahs. Mojer"to, Movima. Yurncare and Chimane communities won a de jure entitlement to ..sustainably manage· this region in 1991. This summer. the regions Indigenous federation, the Cemral de Pueblos lndigenas del Bcni (CP16). representing the region's M:t-{a Yala News �------------------------'S E.!: f~D E T E R M I NAT I 0 !.!:. L.! ~ Indigenous communmes signed an "upgrading of their habitat." Under the agreement with the Herve!. C IMAGRO, agreement, a study will be carried out of and Montegrande. logging companies the ecological collapse affecting the Uru which will force companies to abandon Nation and potential for governmental the TIM by july, 1995. Paradoxically, Mr. assistance to help them survive under bet· Roberto Velasco. a caHle rancher and ter conditions. This agreement will also owner of Herve! reported!)' presented consider programs for land distribution Traditional Uru-Murato the agreement to be signed by CPIB. programs. with the Secretary of Ethnic Affairs act- authorities also requested the liberation of ing as b roker. The companies and com- Uru Indians Paulino Flores. Rogclio munities have been in a-at times Choque, Anacleto Garcia. Angelica Flores armed-stand-off for years. Since title de Garcia and Justina Opida who have was granted to the Indigenous commu~ been accused of '"environmental vandalnitics. logging companies have post~ ism• for hunting namingos that nock on poned the date of their departure from lakes within their territory. Sadly, it seems the TIM se'•eral times. Although calling easier to find Indians guilty of "environfor ren'IO\ral of the companies, the agree- mental vandalism.. 1han to arrest loggers ment is in effect, yet one more postpone- whose blatantly illegal destruction of the ment-and one which will allow the Chimanes Forest goes far beyond mere companies to extract all the remaining vandalism. valuable woods (mahogany in particular) Each of these bilateral agreements won from accesiblc areas. small advances for Indigenous communiCPIB President, Marcial Fabricano. ties. as a whole. however; the)' may have noted. ·we have to deal \\oth clandestine functioned to undermine the strength of a loggers and chain-sawers who intimidate coordinated Indigenous movement. us with guns. This is one of the problems Unfortunately, the movement has been faced by our communities." He added unable to establish a position of bargainthat, "V../e are also now insisting in the ing power which would allow il to press recognition of our traditional authorities, for their acknowledgement would mean that the Bolivian nation indeed is a full democraC)~,. Fabricano. however. remains skeptical. In 1990 CPIB led the "March for Territory and Dignity" from the Beni to La Paz. This was positively received, and achieved many governmental commit· mems. including establishment of the TIM. None of these, however, had any enforcement power. N AN D TERRIT0 RY for "Territory and Dignity" for all Indigenous peoples. The governments new Secretary of Ethnic Affairs has contributed to this weakness. in ilS attempt to act as sole broker between Indigenous organizations and the government. Bolivian anthropologists have often followed the govemmems lead and contributed to establishing isolation rather than coordination. Finally, there is " 1despread disapointment within the lndigenous movement \vith the performance of the Vice-president Victor Hugo Cardenas. His candida~ cy with the l<atarista pany raised expecta· tions as he is the first Aymara Indian to reach such a high governmental post. He has, however. used his power to little or no effect since taking office. A handful of Aymara Kataristas have been appointed to govemment posts. Unfortunately. these few have made a series of raciSt staternents against non·lndians which are of grave concern to the Indigenous move· ment. Although the vast majority in the movement do not share in these opinions, they already arc suffering from the backlash they have generated. ~ Government and Uru Sign agreement to Improve their Habitat The Bolivian government recently signed a bilateral agreement with the highland Uru Nation. of whom scarcely 2,000 remain . This agreement addresses the need to assist the Uru Nation in lhe 1101.8 No.3 Logging companies have postponed departure from the Multi-ethnic Indigenous Territory tong enough to remove thousands of giant mahogany trees like those pictured above. 23 �SELF DETERMIHA TIO H AHD TERRITORY Organizing from Oaxaca to California ,~~~4 Rufino Dominguez This October. SAIIC had the opportunity to interview Rufino Dominguez. Secretary General of the Organization of Exploited and Oppressed Peoples and Sub-coordinator of the Oaxacan Indigenous Binational Front at his office in Fresno. California. long with Chlap>S, the highland state of Oaxaca is one of Mexico~ most Indigenous regions. The Mixteco people arc one of the many Indigenous peoples living In OaxaC3; they have also Immigrated to the North in larger numbers than any other Indigenous people m Mextco. This exodus has been dnven by a number of factors common to many of Mextco~ lndtan groups. Although MIXleco communities have secured legal =ognnion for communal land titles that predate the Mexican re\·olution, there Is sullinsufficlent land to go around. As In Chiapas. local cadques have consolidated ownership over the best lands. At the same time, years of deforcsuuion has tronsformed much of the ter· United States. These mlgronts have often faced not only the exploitation commonly suffered by migrant fannworkers, but also discrimination for being Indian. The emergence and linking of Indian organizations throughout the p3th taken by this exodus is one of the maS> encouraging and intrigumg examples of cross-border orgamzing on the AmeriC3S. Rufino Dommguez grcw up in Oaxaca's Mixteco temtory. on the town of San Miguel Cue,,as or. Nu..Vucu. which means on top of the mount..'\tn in hls nati\'t language. He C3me to the US for the first time in 1964. Uke many Indigenous immigrants. he h>S conserved much of his community's culture. Indigenous Oaxacan immigrants In the US generally keep conritory into ncar desert conditions. \Vith tact with their communities at home. This insufficient land. and fewer opportunities is perhaps beS> exemplified by formation of for wage employment. a steady stream of the Indigenous O=C3n Binational Front Indigenous lmmtgrants have left to look simuluneously in O:lx.1ca, &ja C.lifornia for work elsewhere. Thousands went to and C.lifornta (U.S.). SAIIC had the work m the fields further Nonh, first in opponunhy to mterview Dominguez the S>ates of Stnaloa, Veracruz, the Federal regardmg hiS work wnh the Front in Oislnct. •nd Bop C.hfornta and later in Oaxaca and the Central Valley of agriculturalarus throughout the Western C.lifot1lla. A 14 Can you tell us about when the Mixtccos began to immigrate. and then later, to organize? -The firS> Ml><tecos beg<ln to immigrate in smaU numbers ln the 1960s. but it wasn't until the period known as "the braceros· in the 1980s when we S>aned immigrating as enurc famthes, and in large numbers. When we amved, we worked in the fields in Orcgon, V.'ashington and Alaska. We MtXtecos ha,-. mostly engaged in field work. The truth Is that we began to organize ourselves back in our communities [in OaxaC31. because there were so many injustices there and the authorities abused many of our people. The authorities then beg.'n to kill and threaten our leaders. burned several houses nnd all thnt. They also imprisoned many of our people. This was In 1981-83. Thus. we organized ourselves and it took us one ye-ar to rtmO\'t those authoriues from office. So those who came here already had expe.rie.nces in organizing at home in Oaxaca? Pbf• Yala News �SELF DETERMI N ATION AHO T ERRITORY ·Yes. but back m our communities. our organiza1ion dtdn't htwc a name. \Ve were was just n community committee. Then. I moved to Sinaloo after having won the battle with those people. My companions in Sinaloa had asked me to help organize an assembly. They thought h neccss..1ry to name the or ganization and continue figh ting. and that in this way. our actions could scr"'e the community in at home. What did you call the organization? -The Org.1no.z.1uon of Exploited and Oppressed People. That was the majorities' cho•ce. They ~•d that we are exploited by the econom•c Situation. and oppressed by the nch. What's the relationship between the Organization of Exploited and Oppressed Peoples ond the Indigenous Oaxacan Binational Front? -Well. the Front is an umbrella group or many org.1nizations. What ore it's objectives? -At the org.1n1zoUonollevel, our objecti\'t tS to mcorpor.uc all the lndigenous organtzations th:u agru wnh our princi· pies and our program of actiOn. And our objecu,·e IS to fight for JUStice for all the Indigenous communiues of Oaxacabecause we ha\'t learned that if we are organized. the go"ernments have to pay attention to us-;tnd ir we arc not, they pay no attention to us. Here In the U.S.. the f-ront is involved in labor organizing. in denouncing rocism against Indigenous people-not just o f white americans. bUl or other latinos as well-m denouncing Governor Wilsons anti·immigmnt attacks and in uniting ""'h other latmo org.1niz.1tior1S to oppose the raciSt ballot measures (in California$ Nov. elecuons). \Ve ~lso work v..fth our members to help them get citizenship and emer the country$ pohtical sysrem. Vol. 8 No. l \Ve The Organization ol Exploited and Oppressed Peoples: 500 years of Mixteco Resistance. have 15-20.000 members in California. \:Ve also suppon the From:S activism in Oaxaca b y pressuring the Mexican consulates here. There. the Front works for to get land. basic services in the communitics; for potable \VOter. clinics, electricity, schools. \Vc ha\·e also entered into agree. mcnts with the Federal and State governments to promote small busmesscs m the commumues. Indigenous peo plts throughout the continent have a 1cndcncy toward autonomy and self-d etermination. Do the Mixteco people have as1>irotions to govcn'l yourselves in thls way? -Of course. We all need common objectives. Its vital for us to struggle for autonomy-because unfortunately the Mixte:co communities are not currently autonomous. 1t's unportant to struggle for the autonomy of our community's customs because these are currently threatened ot their rootS. We heard that the Front's organizations met in Tijuana this past month, what happen<d there? -The meeting '""s for all Indigenous Oaxaquei"'os in exile. We met to change the organization's rtttrnc. because new members were entering who speak differ· em languages. llcforc. we were called the Zapoteco-Mixtcco Bmauonol Front. but it turned out that Oaxaca has more than 16 Indigenous peoples. Our brothers, the Triquis. Mcxes and Others groups who had asked to, JOmed the Front. We now include f\\'e lnd•genous peoples, and renamed the orgamz.1uon the lnd•genous Oaxacan B•nauonal Front. We also decided at the meeung to continue the camp.1ign ng.•inst [Go,·emor) Wilsons rocism. reformed our basic anides. named new officers and established c:ornmiuees or coordination ror each region. However. before the meeting, which took place on Sept. 3, the PAN (the right -of-center Nauonal Acuon Party) governor Ernesto Rufo repressed a march or ours which was commg from S.1n Quintin to Mexicali. They were demandmg th." wages be mcrcascd to a JUst le"el. dignified housmg. rural chmcs ond the introducuon of potable water to San Quintin. 25 �SE L F DETERMINATIO N AND And the government's response? ·Seveml protestors were imprisoned; more than 32 comrades went to jaiL TERRI T ORY The National Solidarity Program paid campesinos so that they would vote for the PRL But, we know that this won't bring us out of the misery. This only happens during the elections. There was also lotS of bad information-tnany attempts to discredit the opposition panics. Are there any parties w hose platforms include Indigenous peoples' rights to a dignified li fe, to autonomy and selfdetermination? -They do it in a very panial, Rufino Dominguez (center) Signing agreements intellectual and campesino form. of mutual respect with the UFW. We don\ believe it should be this way. Rather, they should Thirty were wounded. This was an awful include us, as the Indigenous activists, to response from the government: neverthe- give our point of view regarding our less. we were not deterred. We returned autonomy, and what we really want . to regroup and the government accepted negotiations. Two days later. the govern- ls this campesino (or peasant oriented) ment met all our demands except that for approach a result of the first Zapatista a higher minimum wage. which. they revolution, the revolution of 1917? -The (revolutions o0 1910 and 1917 claimed was under the federal governments jurisdiction. Thanks to the interna- had no effect in the Indigenous commutional community'S intervention. we also nities. I say this because we have seen won release of all our prisoners. no changes. To the contrary. there was (Many thanks to all those who wrote more racism and discrimination toward letters in support or the imprisoned pro- the Indigenous people. We are finally testors, your leuers were critical in secur- seeing change now, with the uprising by ing their safe release. eds.l the Zapatista National Liberation Army in Chiapas. They have provoked a You have said that the PAN d id this in change at the national level. Now there Baja California, but doesn't the PRJ do is talk of autonomy for the Indigenous the same in Oaxaca? peoples, there is talk o f education, peo-Actually. the Pany has never taken ple are talking-but these are demands that altitude toward the Front. that I doubt the government with comply with. Definitely, the previous revoluSo, w hat do you think of the PR!? tions did not benefit the Indigenous - 1 totally repudiate that pany. It has communities. done nothing to bring the Indigenous communitie-s out of their misery. It isn't Do you thin k that the Zapatista posicapable of curing a single Indigenous tions go beyond a merely a campesinista child. 1 don't see the PRI as an option for position? Mexico. Speaking of the last election, I -Definitely, they are very much in know the PRIS tactics in the rural areas. agreeme-nt with the Indigenous struggles and they arc cxpen in maintaining power objectives, because they truly take into because they have a giant lpoliticall account Indigenous peopleS necessities. machine. There was lots of manipulation No other political pany has taken this and lots or money exchanged for votes. position. Their platfornt of anned struggle 26 includes the necessities of the Indigenous peoples. W hat about conditions here in California? Have things gotten any better? -No there have been no changes. The farmworker continues to be exploited. They are not paid minimum wage. They work many hours without the right to rest 10 minutes. Women are sexually abused. The contractors and landowners rush the workers to do more than than human beings are capable of. ls the Front affiliated with any union? We're not affiliated.just one year ago. we signed an agreement of respect with Cesar Chavez's United Fannworkers of America. This is, however, nOthing more than an agreement of respect and cooperation. How do )'OU see Indigenous unity in Mexico and at the continental level? Has there been progress in these last few years in organization. communication and solidariry? -At the organizational level. I believe we still have a lot to do in Mexico. There are a great number of Indigenous organizations, and we haven't united. It's the same at the continental level . We need to get better organized, to strengthen the coordination between the Indigenous organizations if that~ possible. Even though it's tme that we have some organi~ zations that arc already very well connect· ed, still we have a lot to do. In relation to communication, only the most important organizations have good communica· tions, and the others have nothing. With SAilC 1 have seen that there is more communication, not juSI. at the continental level, but worldwide. And l think that is where we should focus ourselves. Our objective is to strengthen this communication at the cominemal and global level between all the organizations...., For Mort informacion, comaa: Frentc ind1gtrta Binacional P.O. Box 183, Uvingswn, CA 95334 Ttl: (209) 577·3077 Fax: (209) 577·1098 Abya Yala News �CHIAPAS UP Update on Chiapas D A T E --- A ugust 6 -9, the National Democratic Convention (CND). organized by th e EZLN in Aguascalientes. Chiapas, emerged as one of the most significant political gatherings in modern M exican history. Six thousand delegates from all over Mexico aLtended. The cemrnl theme was the .. transition to democracy.• Several local. regional and national Indigenous organizations partici· pated (see article below) . Most were not entirely satisfied with either the CND's structure or results. but have chosen to \ \· continue panicipating. October 8 . the Zapatista National Libenuion Aml)' broke off negotiations with the government , stating that the Salinas administration was not acting in good faith , and was preparing a military assault. The EZLN also claimed lO have mined the roads leading to their territory. October 10, peace mediator, Bishop Samuel Ruiz expressed ·grave· concern regarding the tensions in the state, and called on both sides to maintain the ceasefire and return to the negotiating table. October 12. the CND reconvened in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. With the support of thousands of local Indigenous supporters, the CND then symbolically and peacefully took over the town. The convention declared itself in permanent session. stating that a civil insurgency is necessary in order to topple the PRI from power. The CND also called for nation·wide mobilization on Nov. 5. to prevent President-elect Ernesto Zedillo from taking office. The EZLN has maintained a p resence in Chiapas's principal city, San Cristobal de las Casas: mini Zapatistas for sale. Six Principles for a New Mexican State he following an icle is based on a proposal titled "Six Principles and Six Proposals" wriuen by the Independent Indian Peoples From (FIPI) T Vol. 8 No.3 and the CommiLtee for the Support and Defense of Indian Rights (CADDIAC). After e xtensive consultations with Indigenous organizations, FIPI con- tributed this document to the working roundtables established at the National Democratic Convention. Although written for Mexico. the analysis could apply 27 �~~ I ~ P_A S ~ P~ ~T E --------------------------------------------C H~ A~ ~~ U~ D~A ~. to the other L.nin American states who · conceive themselves to be mestizo. I. An end to the " Mestizo-cratic" state In Mexico, ethnic homogeneity was considered a necessary precondition in the c remion of the nation·state, and in consolidation of a market cconotn)'· Indigenous peoples have therefore been subject to hostile policies. ranging from physical extennination to "'lndigenista .. strategies whose aim has been to assimilate us. As a result . we have not had. as Indigenous peoples. a dignified place in Mexican society. Not only has our right to exist as a collective entity been denied, bm also our rights as a peoples. Today. we continue living under a neocolonial oppression promoted by the State and perpetuated by mestizo people who ben- efil from this siluation . They, in turn, pr oblems we face, and thus must be mod· believe themselves to be the synthesis of iOed. It was modified in 1992 in a way the Mexican people, the embodiment of that was both limited and has not been the nation, and to have created a State in enforced. Additions to 1\nicle Four recogtheir image and likeness; that is to say, a nize the plurality of the M exican nation, "mestizo-cratic" State. Thus, by the light but this plurality i.s not rcnected in the of comemporary morality. the position of State, which should be structured in the 'Mexican State and the mestizo peo~ order to rcnect this fact. pies is illegitimate: both arc based upon This problem is compounded by the the displacement and the abrogation of fact that Indigenous rights arc located the rights of Indigenous peoples, and under Article Four. which guarantees upon excluding us from collective partic- individual freedoms, rather than within ipation in the nation and the state, which the constitution's principal anicles (ani· has bound us in a neocolonial relation· cles 39, 40, and 41, which have to do ship. with sovereignty and the fonns or go"ern· mem. and ankles 115 to 122, which II. Revise the constitution to eStablish the basis for our federal strucserve as the foundation for a wre). The location or our rights under new, democratic, mult iArticle Four signifies the go"ernmemS national, and popular state refusal to recognize our collective rights The constitution is a key source of the as distinct peoples. recognizing only our looking toward the National Oemocrc.tic Convention. 28 N>ya Yala News �CHIAPAS UPDATE affected the territorial rights of Ind igenous peoples. In many cases, the ejido continues to function in a destrucis a multiethnic nation as it is to recognize tive and assimilationist manner in that Mexico is a multinational state. This Indigenous territories. The new reforms is why the central project is to divest the to Article 27 constitute a fi nal blow constitution of its ..mestizo-cratic" cast. towards the dismemberment of Indigenous territories. the state and the Indigenous peoples: between the Ind igenous and nonIndigenous peoples: between the federation and the elements thereof: between the capital and the provinces: between the p rovinces and the Indigenous regions, etc. Ill. Building a new federalism on the basis of a new understanding of territory VI. A transitional government: towards a multinational state individual rights. This is a fundamental and significant difference, as il is not the same thing at all to recognize that Mexico The ideal of federalism -for which thousands o f citizens, Indigenous and non·1ndigenous, have struggled- has not been realized in our country. From the very beginnings of the Republic, the Mexican people agreed to constitute a federatio n: however, in prac tice our government has been centralist, subject to an overly powerful presidency and to the domination of 1he State by one party, leading in effect to a dictatorship. In order to ful fill the precepts o f fede ralism. it is necessary to redefine the notion that through federation we shall .. unify our diversity". Although t his is a valid concept. it does not acknowledge nor include the continued presence o f distinctive peoples within a federation. Thus indigenous peoples are left out of the fede ral structu re of our cou ntry. Some of the worst consequences o f this exclusion are found in the territorial reorganizations which decisively and negatively impacted the social organization of the original peoples of this land. From that moment to the present, Indigenous territories have been continuously divided. The federalist policies did not take into account the preexisting territories nor acknowledge them as a basis for a re-organization. Instead. they were deeply genocidal, placing Indigenous regions under the tutelage o f the H lndigenista"' ann or the government. Today the few remammg Indigenous territories face new threats. The land redistribution that took place throughout the country based o n an ejido concept of occupancy. instead o f on a communitarian basis. has greatly Vol. 8 No.3 IV. Democracy for Indigenous peoples: only within the context of a democratic nation justice \viii prevail for indigenous peoples only if there is democracy in the rest of the count!)< And democracy can exist only if governments are created that are respectful o f diversity and able to share power, not only 'vith different political parties but also with different ethnic groups. As Indigenous peoples we have often been d enied the vote and been prevented both from choosing our own legit· imate representatives as well as fr exerom cising our right to represent others. As Indigenous peoples, we add our voices to the national clamor for democracy. yet we add that no d emocracy \viii be a true detnocracy if it does not resolve the amidemocratic relationship between Indigenous people and the power of the state, as exemplified in our ability to participate and be represented in the structures of govcrnmem. V. Towards a new covenant between Mexicans The road towards democracy must necessarily take us through a process o f democratizing the relationships between Indians and non-Indians. It is u rgent that as Mexicans we re..1.ch a new national accord, a new social covenant that is based on a new ethic of tolerance and respect towards diversity and plurality that will allow us to live together in peace. But this pact c..1nnot rest only upon individual efforts or moral values; we believe that it must be affirmed by our Constitmion . The State must address this covenant by creating the foundation for a democratic relationship between the State itself and the Mexican people: between It is not possible in this day and age to defend an ethnocratic nation-state. As we seek to give power to the people, we are led to question the legitimacy of the mestizo population being the sole holders of that power. The need for a transilional government means that we need to create a new national model that is no longer an ethnocrntic nation-state, but instead a multi-national state. The creation of a truly multi-national state implies the acknowledgment of the free self-determination of Indigenous peoples, and the embodiment o f those rights through the cr eation of autonomous regions. Six Proposals Included within the six proposals are: !)the constitutional recognition of Ind igenous autonomy through the fo rmation of '"Autonomous Pluriethnic Regions": 2) an addition to Article 42 . and 3) to Article 43 o f a section guaranteeing the existence of the Autonomous Indigenous Regions: 4) refom>s 10 Article 11 5 10 acknowledge the Autonomous Indigenous Regions (referred to as Pluriethnic Regions) as fundamental elementS of the political and administrative struclUrc of the country: 5) modifications to Article 73 and 6) modifications to Articles 52. 53. 54. 55. and 56. which refer to political participation. in order to redraw electoral districts in Indigenous regions. In this way, a sixth d istrict will be drawn to provide for election of Indigenous congressmen and guarantee the presence of six Indigenous senators. '!I 29 �ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT The Convention on Biological Diversity: An Imperative for Indigenous Participation The Biodiversity Convention. one of the world's most important pieces of environmental legisla tion, will be finalized at the end of this year. Whether it will provide tools to defend Indigenous bio-cultural resources remains unclear. By Alejandro Argumedo A t the 1992 U.N. "Earth Summit" in Rio de janeiro, over 150 governments signed the International Convention on Biological Diversity (Biodiversity Convention), which , came into force last December after the required ratification by more than thirty national legislatures. After two-and-a-half years of negotiations, the Conference of Parties (COP) which was eStablished as the Convention's governing body will meet for the first time from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9 in the Bahamas to further define the treaty's implememmion. The Convention has yet to establish the scope and nature of Indigenous peoples' rights to their bio.cultural resources. Thus, this meeting will either help ascenain native rights, or function as yet another intema· tiona! mechanism to legitimate the theft of Indian resources. The Convention is the first global agreement committing signatory nations to comprehensive protection of Mother Earths biological giftS. Provisions stipu· lating specific commitment towards achieving this goal are covered in forty· two legally-binding articles. This legal instrument addresses issues of tremen· dous significance for the world's Indigenous peoples. Alejandro Argumcdo is Q11ec.hua from Peru, a SAIIC board member aru1 Dire<tor of Clllt11ral Survival Canada. 30 Biodiversity and Indigenous Land Up to the nineteenth century, Indigenous peoples exercised de facto control over most of the world's ecosystems. Today, only an estimated 12·19% of the earths land area is home to the four to five thousand Indigenous nations of the world. Even diminished to a mere fragment or what they were, our homelands constitute an important ponion or the globe's relatively intact ecosystems, and shelter an even larger share or its b iologi· cal diversity. ll is no coincidence that the habitats richest in natural diversity are usually home to Indigenous people as well . By some estimates, Indigenous homelands shelter more endangered plant and animal species than all the worldS ..namre reserves" combined. Through millennia we have depended on the diversity of lire around us: uncovering its secrets, and learning how to increase these riches, for example. when we create new genetic diversity within a species. We possess a knowledge that is not only innovative and cognizant of eco· logical processes and uses of biodiversity, but also uniquely holistic for its spiritual and ethical components. That is why the conservation of all components of biodiversity-genetic, species and ecosys· terns--is crucial for our survival as cultures of the land. For Indigenous peoples biodiversity means just that: the land . The recognition of inherent rights to our tra- ditional territories is the foundation both for our survival as peoples and for the conservation and sustainable use of biodi· versity and its components. ln this context the Biodiversity Convention could provide an imponam mechanism to pro· tect Indigenous Peoples' rights over bio· logical resources. The Convention: a Significant but Flawed Tool Disturbingly, there has been liule participation by Indigenous people in developing the Convention. As usual, we have been viewed as the objects (another endangered species) rather than subjects of the process. Most Indigenous people know little, if anything, about the Con· vemion. l'iowever, the treaty does recognize our contributions to biodiversity conservation. In addition, appreciation of our · use of the medicinal, agricultural, and other useful properties of endemic nora and fauna.. i.s increasing. Nonetheless. parties to the Convention are now meeting behind closed doors tO determine what rights we will have over our knowledge. innovations and practices, for which we currently lack any legal Instruments of protection . Bio· cultural pirates are currently plundering these resources \vithout prior infonned consent of Indigenous communities and organizations. Free access for free value is the common practice. For the first time, Abya Yala News �ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT provisions of the Biodiversity Convention may offer opportunities to effectively pro· teet rights to biocultural resources. With the increasing focus on Indigenous territories as reserves of genetic diversity for use in the food. agriculture, pharmaceutical, b iotechnology and other industries, Indigenous peoples presence in the ConventionS develop· ment is crucial. The Indigenous Peoples' Biodiversity Network (IPBN). a global coalition of Indigenous peoples' organizations formed to protect biocuhural resources, has been lobbying for Indigenous peoples' rights within the Convention. In order to promote greater Indigenous innuence within the treaty. the IPBN. SAIIC and the Abya Yala Fund, an Indigenous foundation that supports Indigenous-based sustainable development in the b .tin America, are jointly working to facility increased panicipation Potato crop d iversity developed atongside Andean cultures in the Altiplano region, where hundreds of varieties can be found in tocat markets. of Indigenous peoples from South and Meso America. We need to monitor. ana· lyze, and seek greater mmsparency and accountability from all panics, in addition to promoting policies that protect our local rights and inte rests. The Convention's value lies in the comminnent of signatory nations to work for a common cause. h also supports national sovereignty and each country$ right to benefit from its own biological resources. It funher specifies that each country should ha\re access rights to new technologies. including new biotechnologies. which could assist in conservation efforts or prove useful in the exploitation of biological resources. The Convention does not recognize Indigenous peoples' rights over their traditional tenitories and resources. But it does rc<:ognize the importance of our cultures' survival to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. It also recogn.izes that first nations should share in the benefits deri"ed from their knowledge and innovations. Unfortunately, the ConventionS provisions leave it up to n..1tional governments to decide the scope and nature of Indigenous peoples' rights. Currently, few colonial nation-states recogVOl. 8 No.3 nize Indigenous land rights or rights to customary practices on the land (biodiversity). Inserting these adequately imo the treaty is a serious challenge for the signatory members of the Con"emion , and \viii be a tough figh t for the Indigenous peoples working within the process. The ConventionS existing mandates can be grouped into several broad categories. these are briefly summarized below. National Action Plans and Environmental Impact Assessments One of the Convention's central mandates is to ensure adequate planning and decision-making to protect biodhrersity at the national level. Each country will be Environmental Impact Assessments. This Article may provide Indigenous peoples with a forum-which they have often been lacking-for voicing opposition to senseless · mega-development" projects that affect their human and territorial rights, such as the COI\Struction of hydroelectric dams, highways. tourist resorts, tnining. oil exploration and exploitation, and logging. Protection In tem'ls of concrete protective mea· sures, the Convention has three require· mems: control sources of significant injury to biodiversity. establish systems of protection . protected mnural areas, develop and implement policies for in situ conserva· tion. Indigenous participation is critical Indigenous organizations should panici- both in designing protected areas and in pate in designing these plans because new managing them. First, because Indigenous communities often have extensive knowledge regarding the land· scapes at stake. Second to ensure that these actions are complimentary and required to formulate a national action plan for biodiversity policies will affect their communities the most. Implementation of these plans, is of course. another mancr. and Indigenous organizations will have to monitor this process as well. Secondly for all individual projects "likely to have significant adverse impacts on !biodiversity)" governments will be required to develop compatible \vith pre-existing Indigenous land rights, rather than-as we ha,rc seen in some previous cases-an auempl to clrcumvcm them. 31 �ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT The Convention specifically recommends the application of traditional knowledge and conservation practices. This is a very valuable recognition of Indigenous practices, Indigenous organizations will have to be proactive in the implementation, financing and monitoring or these mea- sures. Research and Indian Lands reliable biodiversity indicators than science. Monitoring the status of ecosystem and species can be done by Indigenous peoples along with scientists if the integrity, and rights to our knowledge is respected and protected. At the same time. parties to the Convention are supposed tO identify and monitor activities that are likely to have significant adverse impacts on biodiverslly. In In addition to protecting biodi\'ersity, the Convention is supposed to promote · sustainable use of biological resources through governmenllprivate sector cooper- ] ation. ln the past, such bilateral coopera- ':' tion has nearly always sidestepped ~ Indigenous panicipation (e.g. "Texaco & """ Ecuadorian Government Settlement" on pg. 4, eds.) The Convention continues to favor bilateral rather than multilateral agreements. Multilateral agreements are more favorable for Indigenous organiza- al action plan should include the following economic activities in their list of harmful processes reqltiring monitoring and mitigation: mining, oil exploration, agribusiness, commercial logging and cattle ranching. Financing The Convention mandates the industri· alized countries tO provide developing countries with new and additional funds to meet its implementation costs. The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) ' vas chosen as the Convention's interim financing mechanism. The panies \viii select the per- manent mechanism at this meeting in Nov. and Dec. Institutional Structure And Intergovernmental process At the international level, panies to the Convention will meet regularly in a Conference of the Parties (COP). A tions: these are more transparent and Secretariat will provide administrative str· vices. An interim Secretarial has been estab· involve a range or concerned sectors who can act as our allies, support our rights, and lished in Geneva, $\vitzerland. In addition, a scientific and technological advisory committee will give technical assistance to the COP. At the COP. panies \viii report on compliance's and consider measures for strengthening the treaty. They 'viii also address, among other issues: a) administer- help to monitor the agreement. Indigenous peoples' organizations should consider multilateral agreements for decisions affecting biodiversity in their tenitories. Identification and Monitoring of Priorities and Problems ing the financing of arrangements under Parties to the Convention are required the treaty; b) seuing up a clearinghouse of infom1ation on teclu1olog>1 transfer and other areas; c) establishing cooperative pannerships on research. information sharing. and technology transfer. "!) to identify priority ecosystems. species, and genomes for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. These priority areas ";11 largely be congruent with Indigenous terri- tories. and Indigenous communities could benefit from research acti\;ties that help to ascertain territorial rights (e.g. ecosystem research). Since the Convention recognizes the merits of Indigenous knowledge in relation to biodiversity, Indigenous peoples should participate in this research as equals with \Vestem researchers. In addition to biodiversity identification. parties are required to monitor the sta- tus of their countryS biodiversity resources. Here. in particular, Indigenous knowledge has a critical role. In many instances. Indigenous knowledge can provide more 32 Chimane farmer shows just one of the several hundred different domesticated and semi·domesticated plant species he cultivates- a local variety of peanuts. many countries Indigenous organizations are the first to identify and denounce large- scale envirorunemal irnJXl.ClS (see for exam· pie Vol. 8: 1&2. Oil exploration in Peru, eds.). Panies should provide Indigenous groups \vith resources for in-depth and continuous monitoring ofhannf\1 activities 1 in their regions. In addition, every nation- For furt.ll<r infonnation 011 the B:odiwfSfO' Conwnllon and lndig<nQ\~ '-"'«$ p/c<U< """"" d-~ folfq,fr.g; M.s Angela Cropper, fx«uti\'t S«relary Col'l\'tndon on Biological Oi\·crsily IS Ootmindc$,~ncmortS CP 3S6CH·12I9 O.aU:laiu Ccllcva. SuiU:crlaltd Td: (i 1-22)979-9J 11 Fax: (41-22)979·2.512 Tht Abya Yala Fund P.O. Box 2&386 Oakland, CA, USA Td: (510) 834-4263 F<JX: (510) 834 -1264 Indigenous P(Oplt:S' 81odiver'$iry Nc:(w'Ori: 62(), l Nic.holas 5-l. Ouawa. Ontario, CanaM. KJN 787 Td: (613) 241 iSCOFax: (613) 241-2292 Abya Yala News �BOLIVIA : Continued from page 9 stmggled untiringly for the establishment of a commission to verify boundaries between conununal and individual proper· ty: between canton. provincial. and departmental jurisdictions: and imen>ational bor· ders. This mo,-emem had a vast and exten· sive organization which included the Guarani people in the fonn of their Captain Casiano Barrientos as well as leaders of the Indigenous people orTarija and Beni. The llolivian state could not tOlerate an autonomous Indian Movement with such extensive organizational capacity, especially since Eduardo Nina Qhispi. one of its bold· est leaders, favored the "Renewal of llolivia" and to that end declared himself President of the Republic of Qullasuyu. creating a parallel Indian State (He was imprisoned by President Salamanca from 1932·36). Thus, in 1945, the government of President Villarroel, in which the MNR fonned one RECONSTRU CTI NG emerged in the 1970s. This mo"ement exposed the nature of colonial domination and sought to develop an alliance between the different Indigenous nationalities in the country. All of the mainstream panies immediately labeled this emerging Indian THE AYLLU ... Reconstructing Traditional Forms of Organ ization In response to the traditions of political manipulation and \\;,s,em "ci\;lizing" syn· dicalism. Indigenous communities in the highlands are reconstructing Ayllu federa· Movement "'raciSt ... The KatariSta panics. tions which maintain traditional structures supponed as they were by the church and although in segmentary fashion. Thus com· the MIR, also condemned the lndianist munities have begun reconstructing ancient position, the recognition of ethnic differ· identities which the Toledian refonns had ences, and the use of native languages, and destroyed centuries earlier. This movement were obliged to testify for a "llolivian" grounds itself in the rights to tenitorynational idemily. understood as physical space, the soil, sub· The 1980s \vitnessed the Indian move· soil; the place where families are rooted. ments premature collapse, weighed down According to Indigenous organizations, by caudillismo {strong individual leaders what lies within the boundaries of demar· who manipulated organizations for their cmed tenilOries belongs to the community own benefit), corruption, and internal divi· and not to the State. Their demands for sions. The movementS ideological consis-- tights to territory and the e:<ploitmion and tency and institutions could not resist the administration of the resources oomained power (and violence). financial resources. 'vitl\in it, are based on titles granted by the and the privileges (congressional seats, gov· Spanish Crown. The govcnuncmS new pan, moved to co-opt indian organizations. ernment jobs. or cash) of the traditional laws, such as that for "popular panicipa· The government organized an Indigenous panies which. for the sake of capturing tion'" fail to ~cognize this concept. and Congress in which the legitimate leaders of Indigenous votes, incorporated Indian therefore remain null. the movement were thrown out by SC(.Urity cadres into their circles. In contrast to the rural unions. the Ayllu forces. After the triumph of the revolution. By the 1990s. Indigenous political insti· federations have reestablished traditional the MNR (\vith the experience of 1945) tutions were practically destroyed, barely authorities as weU as an autonomous admin· rapidly engaged in organizing campesinos leaving behind acronyms and their con-e· istrntion of economic and social resouras and imo a National Federation of Campesinos. sponding caudillos. Finally, the 1993 elec· of justice. E.'O!mples of this are organiz.1tions NuOo Chavez Oniz, a descendent of the tions resulted in an auctioning ofT of Indian such as FASOR (the F ederation of Ayllus to founder of llolivias second largest city, was panies. the South of Omro) with respea to the placed in charge. This elTon ushered in an At the level of the national unions, the Quillacas-Asan.1ques chiefdom, FAONP (the ern of i><mgutajt politico, or political patron· innuential Aymara Genaro Flores was OtlSl· Federation of Ayllus to the Nonh of Potosi) age. which has endured until toda)< This ed as leader of the nations largest rural jach'a Karangas which reconstituted the large system guarantees Indian bondage to the union, the Single Confederate SyndiC>te of Karang.'\5 in La Paz where FACOPI (the benefit of the Pany and the State. Peasant Workers of llolivia (CSlJTCB), and Federation ofAyllus and First Communities of Nevenheless, the political control which his MRTKL pany divided. Thus, the criollo the Province of lnga,;) revindicated their the MNR and the llolivian State exercised political panics fought to gain control over Pakaje origin. and more recently the fonna· over Indian groups could not last forever. what remt'\ined of the lndigenous-annpesino tion of the Supreme Council of llolivian Ayllus In the mid·l960s Indigenous groups arose, organization-viewing it as war booty. in the depanments of La Paz. Omro, and seeking to reclaim their traditional fonns of This sitt"1tion, although gloomy in its Potosi. FACOPls Organic Statue is insuucti\·e. organizalion and to develop their own ide· outlook, has given way to the strengthening in the way it emphasizes the value of culture, ology. The traditional system of control of grassroots organizations in the Andes. In history, and Indigenous language which con· founded in 1952 'vas also battered by other the Oriente (the upper Amazon Basin). stitute the basis for identity and self-detenni· pressure groups. Among these, the military however, the situation is very different and nation. with ilS own attempt at peasant co-optation more closely resembles the organizational The re·establishment of Indigenous ian· through a military-campesino paCt, and the process of CONAIE in Ecuador. There, guage. culture, identity. territory. and SO\>er· Leftist Revolutionary Movement (MIR) Indigenous organizing has always been cignty is the goal of the Indian movement. 'vith its call for independent labor organi· closely tied to idemit)\ and the Indian orga· represented by a variety of grassroots orga· zations figured largely. niz.ations have not taken up the camptSino nizations working for the rights and dignity Thus, an energetic Indian Movement rc- banner. as often occurred in the highlands. of Indigenous peoples. .., Vol. 8 No.3 33 �W 0 ME N 3. Establish relations with national and inte- national organizations and particr ipate actively to articulate, promote and project the demands of women and Indigenous peoples. In order to achieve these objectives, the committee members established the regional bases for a continental communication and infom1ation dissemination net· Women from around the continent ca me to La Paz to b uild commu· nication and plan future strategies Strengthening the Network: Second Encounter of Indigenous Women from South, Central America and Mexico work. These will be, the Council of Maya Organization of Guatemala. the Workshop of Kuna Women-Association of Napguana (Panama), the Foundation of Educational . Social and Economic Development FUNDASE (Guatemala); the Coordinating Committee of Indigenous Women of Bolivia and the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (USA). The CIMI issued a statement pointing out that eventhough there has been progress in tenns of strengthening com· munication and women's participation in the organizations, there are still abuses against women like physical violence and basic rights , such as education. continue to be discriminatory.( ...) The statement also points out that: ..Neo-Hberal policies of the Latin American governments are he Executive Committee of the T Coordinating Body of Indigenous Women of South and Central America (CIMI) met in La Paz. Bolivia, from july 4·6 of 1994 in preparation for the General Assembly that will take place in Mexico in August of 1995. and for the Founh World Women's Conference of the United Nations in Beijing in 1995. The meeting in La Paz was hOS<ed by Centro de Discusion ldeologioo de Ia Mujer A)onara (COlMA) and attended by delegates from Guatemala, Panama. Mexico. Venezue]a. Nicamgua, Peru. Argentina and a representative from the Coodinadom de Mujeres lndigenas de Bolivia (CMI6). Background: In August of 1990. the Sabmi Women's organizations fron1 Norway organized an international Indigenous \-\'omen's Confe- rence. At that C\'Cnt, women representati\'es from aU coumrics in the American continent 34 were present and decided to ca11 a meeting to set up a network o£ Indigenous \'\bmen from Mexico. Central and South America. The First Encounter of Indigenous \\llmen from South and Central America took place in Uma, Peru. in March of 1991. At that meeting the Coordinating Body was fomted. This Encounter in 1...:'1 Paz was initiated with an Aymara·Quechua ceremony which is the \Va:..:t'a. offer to the Pachamama (mother can h). The committee affimted the following broad objcetives: l. Promote permanent communication between existing Indigenous wo1nen's organiutions in order to develop a network of solidarity at the national and international level. 2. Promote the exchange of cultural and organizational experiences between Indigenous women's organiz..1.tions. putting the Indian communities under more threats. Our territories and the Ecosystems will be more exploited and contaminated."( ...) Members of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Women are planning to travel to the Fourth \.Yorld ~'omen's Conference in Beijing to organize a Workshop on the issue of domestic violence. "il For mo~ infonnation you can contact: Sm. Maria Riquiac Morales Consejo de Organizacioncs Mayas de Guatemala - l'UNDASE 10 Calle 5-21 Zona 1 CHICHICAS Chirnaltenango . GUATEMAUI Telcfa., : 502-9-561018 Fany Avila Eleta Taller de Mt~eres Kuna Apartado 536. l>anama. Rep. de Panama Ph: 507-696525 Fa." 507·693514 You can also concaa SAIIC. N>ya Yala News �W 0 MEN Drug Trafficking and Strip Searches Place Wayu Women in Peril The following statement regarding "La Requisa lntima"-The Strip Search. was made by Dalla Duran of the Indigenous Movement for National Identity CMOIIN). and appeared in IWGIA he Way(l people have lived on Guajira Peninsula between Colombia and Venezuela since before the Spanish arrived on this conti· nent. This coastal and semi·desert territo· ry of vast planes is the home of our matrilineally organized society. Way(l women are the axis of this society: inheritance and the last name follow the mothers line. Women:S presence and participation arc funda mental in the development and T continuity of each clan . Nonetheless. in the last few years, the menace of drug trafficking has begun to shake the foundation of our community and the position of women Within it. In contrast to many other regions of South America, drugs arc neither grown. nor processed in Guajirn. However. our location , which for years kept us isolated from European innucnces and the missions. has today become our biggest problem . Over the last twenty years, the Guajira has been converted into a giant landingsuip and a port of transit for ships. Drugs arc launched from here to the drug consuming countries of the world . Drug trafficking has had more than a transitOT)' presence. Huge quantities of money have allractcd cheap labor to the region: men • women and children act as guards for the landing strips and illicit ports which appear and disappear as if by magic on the savannas and coasts. Dntgs are stored in the workers' houses, involving entire families in this activity. VOl. s No.3 The quanlllles of money paid to the "mules" work should be stopped. we canworkers transforms our communities' not accept the treatment that our women traditional values. Our society's mea· receive daily on crossing the border check sured balance with the environment, points. The searches that arc carried out based on taking only what is necessary are inhuman and undignified. The from our habitat, is evaporating. At the national guard. police and customs offisame time. violence has grown. as has cials assume that every woman dressed in the nun1ber of anns-which are required traditional clothing or having our featu res in the functioning of the drug trade. is a ..mule." During these searches, even Thus, the model of life based on respect women~ genitals are examined in small for women and on strong commu· nity solidarity is at risk. For five "For five centuries. women have centuries, women have exercised a exercised a fundamental role in fundamental role in the defense of our traditions along the long road the defense of our traditions ... • of European colonization. and the place of women emerged strengthened by this process. Despite the cubicles in front of the other traveling Spanish conquistadors' plundering o f companions and without any kind of san· our society, it never uprooted the status itary control. Only the poor and humble of women in WayU society. \VayU women who travel by truck or bus Throughout the world, drug traffick- are searched in this way. Those who trav. ers use '"mules.. to transport small quanti· el in private cars are not affected. ties of drugs from one spot to another. h is no exageration to call these strip Here, drugs need only be carried the few searches a violation of our fundamental kilometers from Colombia to the frontier rights. The searches violate our dignity as cities of Venezuela. In this activity, Way(l human beings, it is not only an ass.'luh on women are in demand for their stamina, our morality, but only exposes the popuaudacity and capacity to overcome fear. lation to venereal diseases and conNonetheless, the government's actions tributes to the deteriorating physical. to arrest violence generated by the drug emotional and mental health of the Way(l trade have put Indigenous people at the women. We hope that this statement center of a connict which. in many cases, causes renection on this issue. as our jeopardizes women the most. Even people are living under inhuman condithough we understand that the authori- tions under the indifferent glances of the ties reaction is logical, and that the authorities. ~ 35 �ORGANIZATION AND COMMUNICATION Indigenous People's Alliance <IPA> Update countries to panake in the next encounter. Those pre-.sem emri. Indigenous Peoples Alliance (IPA) members auended the Tohono O'odham Human Rights Conference in Sells. Arizona, on july 29-30 in the lohono O'odham Nation, extending alliances across the Mexico/U.S/Canada borders. Following the conference in Sells, the IPA convened in Phoenix for a strategy and planning meeting on Aug. I. Representatives from sioned the promotion and encouragentcnt of elders around the Tonanrzin, Indigenous Environmental Network, En'owkin ciples for the CONIC constitutional convention were distributed for cotnment and discussion on recruitment strategy undenak· en. Members were updated on the situation in Chiapas by was the 1heme of this congress sponsored by the CH1-G (Council of May Education of Guatemala), Aug. 8-11, 1994, in Que1zahenango attended by approximately 350 Ma)'a teachers. In discussing 1he needs of the Maya, their reality and cosmovision, spirituality and philosophy, 1he teachers recommended Marcos Perez Gomez from ORIACH (Organizacion Regional de los Altos de Chiapas). the initiation of Maya curriculum in both rural and urban areas. including: Mayan mathematics. astronomy, medicine, linguis· Center, and Peace and Dignity Project auended. The draft prin- For' mon: information. Contact: Tonatiern. POll24009, Phoenix Az 85074 Tel: 602- 254-5230 Fa." 602-252-6094 First Encounter of Maya Elders and Spiritual Guides in Guatemala Maya elders and spiritual guides met on March 13-22. 1994, at the different cardinal points in Tecpa'n, Guatemala. This gathering wns a chance for an exchange of information on Maya astrology with an ernphasis on predicting cycles which can aid elders in their healing rituals. The Maya Calendar was a major point of discussion. Some people believe that the prophecies o f the calendar will have a great impact over the next 20 years. A council of elders and spiritual guides fonned at this encounter with the intention of unifying Indigenous communia ties. The panicipants also decided to invite elders from other world to practice, exchange, and impan their traditional teachings and healing practices. First Congress of Maya Education "The time has come that we re-initiate the cirdc of light. .... tics, ans. philosophy. productivity and culture. They also called for the opening of more schools for training bilingual MayaSpanish teachers, and the institutionalization of21languages by the Academy of Maya languages. Workshops to Train Indigenous Journalists Planned in Norway SAI IC·Norway representative Sebastian Lara and Sami journalist Unni Wenche Gronvold are establishing an Indigenous journalists Project in Oslo, Norway. The p roject will o rganize training workshops for Indigenous journalists from throughout the conrinent. These workshops will strengthen the lntemalional Association of Indigenous Press (AlPIN) which is currently broadcasting from Mexico City. SAIIC-Norway is seek- ing economic assistance from governments who are sponsoring to 1he U.N. Decade for Indigenous Peoples, as well as from the Spanish News Agency EFE. The Foreign Relations Office of the Norwegian government is now swdying SAllC·NorwayS pro· posal. This project will enable more Indigenous journalists to repon on their own struggles. F4r m4rt infonnatlon and to send a$$fSrancc: SAIIC-Norge. Torgatta 34.0183 Oslo. Norw.>y Free Workshops For the Women of La Quebrada de Humahuaca, Argentina The women of Quebrada de Humahuaca Province. in the Republic of jujuy, Argentina. have been organizing . Recently, this work included designing n ew practical components for the States educational system, including the prac1ice of preserving fruits and vegetables, weaving, hcahh education, ceramics. music and dance, and especially the recuperation of their native language Kechua. This project results from free workshops orgaInd igeno us w o men's committee meets betow the wip h&t& 36 nized independently by women in various localities. Also the educational amhorities. OIGEMAS. and the Ministry of Culture M:Jya Yala News �ORGANIZATION and Education all included the women~ proposals into the state system. The workshops' primary objectives have been to achieve incen- tives for panicipation through collective organiz.. 'l.tion. incentives for production based on a subsistence oconomy, incorporation of modem techniques, re-valuation and advancement of the culture, recovery of the native tongue. Kcchua. and improving the standard of li'""&· For mort: infotmalion~ J~ de Ia lglesia/2238-Cu)"'ya·Son Salvador de jujuy Rcp~blica Argcntin.V Tel: 29605 Ecuadorian Indigenous Women's Forum The forum was held between july and Sept. . in preparation for the Fourth Women$ Conference. Women from the Quichua. Slmar, Achuar. Siona, Cofan, Secoya, lioao. Awa, Chachi, Tsachi and Huancavilcas prepared the document "Women of Yesterday, Women of Today, Always 'Women, \Ve weave the Fmure of Our People.. which analyzes their situation within the communmes and within Ecuadorian society in general. They demand recognition of the different Indigenous nation· alities within a Plurinational state, demarca· tion of Indigenous territories, and the granti· ng of communal ownership over them. At the same time, they requested govern· ment attention to improving agricultural and anis..·m production and commercialization. better infrastruc-ture. education and health services. They also demanded respect for Indigenous peoples human rights and the par· ticipation or women in the processes that affect them. For more informa!lon, or ro obtain tilt meeting~ final dccumcm: Agel'lcia latino:uncrica.na de 1nfonnaci6n (ALAI). Casilla 17-12-$77. Quito. Ec\lador. Av. 12 de oetubre 622 y Paula. Edificio 6ossano. Of. 503. Tel: (593) 2 505 074 Fax: (593) 2 505 073 First Regional Encounter of Mapuche Women in Chile The Mapuche Zomo Ni Unel Xawl"' (First Regional Encounter of Mapuchc Women) was Vol. 8 No.3 AND COMMUN I CATION organized by the Coordinating Commiuee of Mapuche Women\; Institutions of the IX Region on Sept. 5. Participants worked to analyze a number of fundamental cultural concepts in order to understand and implemem them from an Indigenous perspec· tive. Concepts like Mapuche identity; health and its relation to the sacred: education. and its relation to wisdom~ the exercise of memory and precision~ were central themes of the discussion. Finally they addressed the situation of Indigenous women who cominue to live in the communities as well as those who have migrated. �CA L E H D A R 0 F EV E H T S Oct.17-18 Nov. 30-Dec. 2 Seminar on Self-determination for Indian Peoples National and International Conference on NAFTA Indigenous people from throughout Mexico will participate in this conference organized by El Colegio de Mexico, under the leadership of Rodlofo Stavenhagen. The Aukir1 Wallmapu Ngulam (All lands Council) is calling this conference in Temuco, Chile out of concern fo r the governments plans to join NAFTA by the end of next year. Qmtact: Rod~fo Stavtnhagen, tcVfox: 52-5·645·59·55 ContGGt: Au.hifl WQ.Ilmapu Ngulam, General Mackenna 152 Ca.silla 448, Tcmuco. Chile teVfax: 56-45-235-697 Oct. 20- Nov. 15 Big Mountain to Chiapas Good Medicine Run This relay run will begin in Big Mountain and proceed to Brownsville, TX. (Oct.20·29). Second leg is from Brownsville to Chiapas (Nov. l-15). Each night of the run traditional exchanges or Native American cultures will take place. Sacrtd Run Foundation, Inc. PO BX 315 Newport, Kenrutky 41071 Td: (606)581·9456 Fax: (606)581-9458 Dec. 9-10 Summit of the Americas President Clinton has invited the other p residents of the Americas to Miami , Florida, to establish a strategy for develop· ing a new relationship between the American states. Clinton is ex1>ected to pressure the latin American states to accept U.S. patent laws and the international agreements of NAFTA and GATf. Indigenous people " "" work to establish an alternative Oct. 22-24 meeting, and pressure governments to accept Indigenous partie· ipation. Guatemalan Government and URNG Re-open Negotiations Peace negotiations between the Guatemalan government and the Dec. 12 National Revolutionary Union of Guatemala guerilla movement will re~open in Mexico City. lndian groups will be working to gain emrance into these talks which will affect Indigenous communities throughom Guatemala. Nov. 10-20 Symposium: " 502 Years of Denied Rights" The Centro di Doeumentazione della Etniein Firenze, Italy, is organizing this conference focusing on rights to land. spirituality and identity. Contact: Villa Fabbricoui· via Viu. .Emtlntu:lt 64, 50134 Flrcnzc, ltalla, tel/fax: 39-55·48860 Nov. 13 First Indigenous Autochtonous Festival Dancers and Musicians will be coming to La Paz from all over Bolivia to commemorate the deuh of Aymarn heroe Tupac Katari in 1781. Ccntatt: CED1MA (Aymara \Vom<n$ Center for ldcologtcal Dis<u5Sion. tel/fax: 591-2.35-48-74 38 Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples The United Nations will inaugurate the Decade for Indigenous People during International Human Rights Day in New York City. Indigenous leaders from around the world are expected to attend. Comact: Tonaticrra, 1818 S. 16!h St, Phoenix, AZ 85034 #418 T<l: 602-254-5230 Or conratt SAliC January. 1995 Indigenous Peoples, Customary Law and 'Intellectual Property Rights' Workshop The workshop \viii be held at the SAIIC offices in O..kland. Indigenous representatives from Meso and South America ' vill gather to develop Indigenous strategies for long-term survival in the face of new exploitation aimed at Indian lands. Sponsors are still needed to suppon participation of Indigenous delgates. Comact: SAIIC or the Indigenous PeopleS Biodi\'trsicy Network, Suit< 620. I Nltlrolas St. Ouawa, Ontario, KIN787 Tel: (613) 241 4500 Fax: (613) 241 2292 Abya Yala News �S A I I C News from S S~IIC ... AIIC is tn the midst of many changes. We h.-·e changed our name to the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center to bet· ter rcOcct the focus of our activit<>. Wlule rninee as international relat1ons coordinator. SAIIC board member and women's project coordinator. Wam Alderete fur· thercd her information g.11henng on tm· ditional health systems and auended a infonnation gathering and dissemination conference on women and traditional continue to be major projects fo r us. the health hosted by Way\1 Indians this new name describes more clearly our role September in Venezuela. In conjunction in International organizing: to fight for Indian peoples' rights. In a more concr<te change. we will also be mo,1ng tn No"ember to new office spaces at 171'1 Fmnkhn (3rd Floor). also in downtown Oakland. Tins large new sp3cc "111 acco· modate our expanded team or amcms and volunteers. 0\'CT the summer, we have focused largely on Issues o f biodiversity conserva· tion and Intellectual property rights. which are receiving increasing international attention. SAIIC board member and Cultuml Sur\-ival-Canada. exccutl\'e din:ctor. Alejandro Arnaru Argumedo spent se\'Cml weeks here in Oakland p3r· with The Book Publishing Comp3ny. we ha'" published the second edition of the women's book "Daughters of t\bya Yala" . For the fifth consccuuve ytar. Nilo Cayuqueo represented SAIIC at the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples meeting in GenC\•a. He also helped orga· nizc a planning meeting for 1he Coordinating Committee of Indigenous Nations a nd Organizations of the Continent (CONIC) in Bolivia. St\IIC is pleased to announce that Marcos Yoc, Maya·Caqchiquel from Guatemala, mil be joining the board of dtrectors. Marcos has been :acuve m the Chtmahenango area and works m Maya ticapaung 10 e\'tnlS relating to these 1ssues education. and planntng for our upcoming workhop on ''Indigenous peoples, Customary Law and 'Intellectual Propert y Rights."' This workshop " ;II take place in corly 1995 and will bring together Indigenous peoples from Nonh and South America who arc facing constant thrtats to theor survi"al as cuhures of the land. The work· shop \\111 be an opponunoty for lnd.g<nous peoples to dC\·elop pohey and suateg~es to enhance their struggles for ad,·ancing inherent rights and protecting blo-cultural resources and spiritual values. SAIIC assisted in organizing a plan· ning meeting of the Coord inating Committee or Indigenous women of Meso nnd South America. which took ploce in Boliva this june. SAIIC Mil con· tinue pan•dp3t1ng m the steering com- David Tecklin will be l<aving the SAIIC Office Coordinator position to renew work with forest conservation issues. Ch eryl Musch will be managing the office through the winter. We are also happy to welcome MacArthur Foundation Fellow Marc Becker here to work wuh us for the next y<ar. Marc ,viii be using h•s extensive experience with computer nctworklng to help us exp3nd our inforrnauon systems ~N0.3&4 via the internet. Marc li\'ed in Ecuador last year. where he will return ngain next )'C:rtr to finish research for his disscnation. St\IIC has established on electronic con· terence on PeaceNet called S(liic.indio. \Ve \viii be po&ing a voriety of new and histor· leal infonnation on St\IICs acth~ties and the Indian mo\'ement m thiS conference. The full text o( the &rbados Ill Declamtlon e.•cerpted u1 th•s 1SSue has been po&ed there in English and Sp3nish. To join PeaccNet. c:~ll ('115) 442.{)220. If you already ha"e all Internet e-mail account rou can be placed on a mailing list to receh'C the postings to the SAIIC conference by send· ing a note which simply s. ys "subscribe 1 saiic·l.. to majordomo®igc.apc.org. Over the summer, SAIIC has also been organiza· \'try busy Implementing se\'ernl tiona) str.ueg•es m order to strengthen our work. We completed one of the two public awareness c:amp.•igns planned for thiS )"ear. Approximately 5.000 people in the San Fmncisco 6.1y t\rea received news and information about SAIIC-most likely for the first time. This effort will also help to finance the second planned public aware· ness campaign targeting approximately 200 foundations in the United States. Broadening our base of subscribers to the journal IS cn1ieal m our move tov..ard more self-sustaLnabLiity. You can help with this elTon b)• sending us the names and addresses of anyone who might be interested in receiving infonnation about SAIIC and Abya Yala News. You are cordially invited to SAIIC's Offlce Warming Party 1714 Franklin, 3rd A. Monday. December 14. 1995 6:00-1O:OOpm Refreshments Mil be served. Office \vonning gifts glad I)' accepted. We still need office equipment, including: modems, a scanner, Macintosh or 486 PC computers. as well as alithe usual items. 39 �ITEMS AVAILABLE FROM SAIIC Daughters of Abya Yala Video: Rebuilding Our Communities Testimonies of Indian women orga. Indigenous leaders from Central and South America d iscuss the nizing throughout the Continent. SOO-years campaign, which began as an Indian response to the Quincentenary celebration and has developed as an ongoing d ialogue among indigenous activists. Produced by SAIIC. S18 + S 1.75 shipping. Statements from gra.ssroots Indian women leaders from South and Meso America. rndvdes resolutions from Indigenous women's meetings, a directory of Indian women's orga· nizations and key contacts, informa· tion on Indian women's proiects, and poems by Indian women. Forty-eight pages w ith beautijul black and white photographs. Printed on recycled paper. S6 + S1 .50 shipping. An updated, bound edition is also available for S8 + S 1.50 shipping. Video: A Skirt Full of Butterflies Amazonia: Voices from the Rainforest A resource and action guide with a comprehen.sive listing of international rainforest and Amazonian Indian organizatiions sponsored by SAIIC and the International Rivers N etwork, and pub· lished by Rainforest Action N etwork and Amazopia Film Project. 199 0. Available in Spanish or English for $ 4.50 + S 1.75 shipping. 15 minutes. A love poem to the Isthmus Zapotec women of south· ern Oaxaca, Mexico, by filmmakers E llen Osborne and Maureen Gosling. For every purchase made, a se<ond copy will be sent to an Indigenous women's organization as a gift. S19.95 + S3 shipping. Video: Columbus Didn't Discover Us Native people's petSpcctives on the Columbus Quincentennial based on the footage of the 1990 Quito Conference. 24 minutes. A co-produc· lion of SAIIC, CONAIE, ONIC and Tuming 1id<! Productions. Available in Spanish or E nglish. S19.95 + S1.75 for shipping f< handling . 1992 International Directory & Resource Guide An annotated d irectory of over 600 international organizations that participated in 500 Years of Resistance projects. Includes declarations from Indigenous conferences and organizations and information on curriculum resources, speakers bureaus$ computer netw orks, audio-visual resources and print resources. SS + S1.75 shipping. South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAil C) P.O. Box 28703. Oakland, CA 94604 Non-profit O rganization US Postage PAID Oakland,CA Permit No. 79 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Movements and The Electoral Process Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fall 1994 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fall 1994 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fall 1994 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1994 Description An account of the resource Fall 1994 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Fall 1994 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Fall 1994 Language A language of the resource Fall 1994 English Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Fall 1994 Relation A related resource Fall 1994 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Fall 1994 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Fall 1994 Subject The topic of the resource Fall 1994 Type The nature or genre of the resource Fall 1994 Zotero Artist Fall 1994 Attorney Agent Fall 1994 Book Author Fall 1994 Cartographer Fall 1994 Cast Member Fall 1994 Commenter Fall 1994 Composer Fall 1994 Contributor Fall 1994 Cosponsor Fall 1994 Counsel Fall 1994 Director Fall 1994 Editor Fall 1994 Guest Fall 1994 Interviewee Fall 1994 Interviewer Fall 1994 Inventor Fall 1994 Performer Fall 1994 Podcaster Fall 1994 Presenter Fall 1994 Producer Fall 1994 Programmer Fall 1994 Recipient Fall 1994 Reviewed Author Fall 1994 Scriptwriter Fall 1994 Series Editor Fall 1994 Sponsor Fall 1994 Translator Fall 1994 Words By Fall 1994 Item Type Fall 1994 Note Fall 1994 DOI Fall 1994 ISBN Fall 1994 ISSN Fall 1994 Abstract Note Entire issue Access Date Fall 1994 Application Number Fall 1994 Archive Fall 1994 Archive Location Fall 1994 Artwork Medium Fall 1994 Artwork Size Fall 1994 Assignee Fall 1994 Audio File Type Fall 1994 Audio Recording Format Fall 1994 Bill Number Fall 1994 Blog Title Fall 1994 Book Title Fall 1994 Call Number Fall 1994 Case Name Fall 1994 Code Fall 1994 Code Number Fall 1994 Code Pages Fall 1994 Code Volume Fall 1994 Committee Fall 1994 Company Fall 1994 Conference Name Fall 1994 Country Fall 1994 Court Fall 1994 Date Fall 1994 Date Decided Fall 1994 Date Enacted Fall 1994 Dictionary Title Fall 1994 Distributor Fall 1994 Docket Number Fall 1994 Document Number Fall 1994 Edition Fall 1994 Encyclopedia Title Fall 1994 Episode Number Fall 1994 Extra Fall 1994 Filing Date Fall 1994 First Page Fall 1994 Forum Title Fall 1994 Genre Fall 1994 History Fall 1994 Institution Fall 1994 Interview Medium Fall 1994 Issue 3 Issue Date Fall 1994 Issuing Authority Fall 1994 Journal Abbreviation Fall 1994 Label Fall 1994 Language English Legal Status Fall 1994 Legislative Body Fall 1994 Letter Type Fall 1994 Library Catalog Fall 1994 Manuscript Type Fall 1994 Map Type Fall 1994 Medium Fall 1994 Meeting Name Fall 1994 Name of Act Fall 1994 Network Fall 1994 Num Pages Fall 1994 Number Fall 1994 Number of Volumes Fall 1994 Pages 1-40 Patent Number Fall 1994 Place Fall 1994 Post Type Fall 1994 Presentation Type Fall 1994 Priority Numbers Fall 1994 Proceedings Title Fall 1994 Program Title Fall 1994 Programming Language Fall 1994 Public Law Number Fall 1994 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Publisher Fall 1994 References Fall 1994 Report Number Fall 1994 Report Type Fall 1994 Reporter Fall 1994 Reporter Volume Fall 1994 Rights Fall 1994 Running Time Fall 1994 Scale Fall 1994 Section Fall 1994 Series Fall 1994 Series Number Fall 1994 Series Text Fall 1994 Series Title Fall 1994 Session Fall 1994 Short Title Fall 1994 Studio Fall 1994 Subject Fall 1994 System Fall 1994 Thesis Type Fall 1994 Title Fall 1994 University Fall 1994 URL Fall 1994 Version Fall 1994 Video Recording Format Fall 1994 Volume 8 Website Title Fall 1994 Website Type Fall 1994 Attachment Title Fall 1994 Attachment URL Fall 1994 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/39a6129c6032dc62d1e4be8d0bc2e77d.pdf 50b791bf60bae36c94224f2df7de413a PDF Text Text BOLIVIA Indian Participation In The National Parliament The following comments by Luciano Tapia, 62, a founder of the Tupak Katari Indian Movement (MITKA) and a member of the Bolivian parliament from 1982 to 1985, appeared in the February issue of Boletln Chitakolla (Casilla 20214, Correa Central, La Paz, Bolivia; annual subscription $15). "Our representation in Parliament was completely useless, not only because of our small numbers [Luciano was one of two members representing Indian political parties], which limited the development of a political program, but also because of the political composition of Parliament. Reactionary forces constituted the majority, and within the left forces we found a tremendous sectarianism which in no way favored the interests of the people. "At first I had great hopes. I presented some projects, but they didn't even manage to make it before the whole Parliament. My bill to make Aymara and Quechua official languages in Bolivia is still being held back, opposed precisely by those who proclaim their support of Indians by talking about land reform. A bill I proposed to protect the national wheat supply was ignored. A plan to place the transportation system under public control was also blocked. "From the experience of my many years of struggle, I think that to vitalize the struggle of Indian people it is necessary to clarify our political thought, to consider ourselves a Nation before we consider ourselves a class. We need to establish some concrete objectives and communicate them to the Indian people, who are a great force despite a feeling of weakness in the absence of an instrument of struggle. This weakness is a subjective feeling, because the Indian people are the true people. Here in Bolivia we are the Nation. We must provide our people with a forceful and concrete instrument with which they can see the light of liberty." CHILE Cultural Projects Sustain Traditions Peggy Lowry, a member of the SAIIC Committee, recently returned from a trip to Chile, - where she had the opportunity to visit several Mapuche communities and organizations. In the following comments she talks about what she learned. AD-Mapu is known throughout Chile as a strong organization for and by Mapuches. One of the ways AD-Mapu informs people of the Mapuche situation past and present is through a theater group. They have a group of nine people, all volunteers, who write and perform plays. I was fortunate to be in Temuco when they were presenting a cycle of plays that lasted five nights, two per night. Half of the plays were in Spanish and the other half in Mapudugun. They included traditional stories, the relationship between the Mapuche and the Vol. 2, no. 3. Spring, 1986. Published quarterly by SAIIC © 1986 Page 11 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 2, No. 3 (Spring 1986) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian Participation in the National Parliament (Bolivia) Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 1986 Zotero Title Indian Participation in the National Parliament (Bolivia) Item Type Journal Article Attachment Title Vol. 2, no. 3 (11).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note The following comments by Luciano Tapia, 62, a founder of the Tupak Katari Indian Movement (MITKA) and a member of the Bolivian parliament from 1982 to 1985, appeared in the February issue of Boletln Chitakolla Issue 3 Language English Pages 11 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 2 Bolivia Luciano Tapia Tupak Katari https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/fcb92a27da211d168250356aa3e4d5af.pdf 31c6e81eadcae6bcb4235305f65c1a73 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource vol. 6, No. 3 (35).pdf PDF Text Text I Indigenous leaders meeting at the December 1991 NGO conference "The Roots of the Future" in Paris signed a declaration demanding that governments and international organizations guarantee the rights of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination and control over their natural resources. The declaration rejects the celebration of the "QuincentennialoftheDiscovery ofAmerica" and states that "the 11th of October, 1492 was the last day of freedom for the Indigenous Peoples of America". The signers also demand the right of Indigenous Peoples to participate in the UN Conference on Environment and Development to be held in June in Brazil. Thelndigenousleaders wish to present an alternative modal for sustainable development based on the traditional harmonious relationship between Indians and the environment. They reject the western development 'i ! ! Letter from the Indigenous Delegates present at the Palace of Nations in Geneva Switzerland, to the Pope. Geneva, August 1, 1991 i Chief of State of the Vatican Pope John Paulll Rome, Italy ! The indigenous delegates present at the Palace of Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, in debate regarding the Universal Declaration of the rights of indigenous people, convened by the "Working Group of Indigenous People" of the United Nations, hereby present and declare: In view of the declaration on May 3, 4, 1493, of the Papal BulllNTER CETERA, by which territories of indigenous people are conceded to Spain and Portugal, without taking into account the material or spiritual rights of the indigenous people in case of ABYA-YALA (America) and other parts of the world; In defense of the sacred rights of the indigenous people, and in promotion of human dignity and harmony that should reign among humanity on this planet, For all these purposes: l)we demand from the vatican state a denunciation of the unilateral treaty Pope Alejandro 34 modalbasedonamarketeconomywhichonly benefits the powerful and which is responsible for the destruction of the environment through over exploitation ofnatural resources. The following is the introduction to the declaration: We, the Indigenous Peoples of the world have been constructing, since the ancestral times, a culture, civilization, history and a view of the world which have pennitted us to co-exist hrumoniously with nature. This normalprocesswasinterruptedinAmericain1492 VI, as being contrary to the Universal Human Rights of Peoples. 2)whereas the year 1993 completes 500 years of a supposed spiritual conquest without clear rectification of this universal injustice, allowing the nation-states that have benefited from the inherintance of Pope Alejandro VI to continue progranunes of genocide and etlmocide, denying the indigenous people the recuperation of a harmony based on reciprocal human respect, we demand that the Papal Bull of May 3, 4, 1493 INTER CETERA be annulled. 3)we direct John Paulll to accede to universal concepts of justice including the spiritual and material rights of indigenous peoples, in furthereance of life, harmony of human beings with our Sacred Mother, and the spiritual peace of the Great Creator in accord with the cosmovision of each one of our indigenous peoples, free from all oppression. Thus we proclaim in the name of Human Dignity, in harmony with our Mother Nature and in the Spirit of Truth. Signed, the indigenous delegates, and organizations. • I (Panama, Ecuador) Indigenous mostprogressiveandlndian-friendly,''said Peoples do not expect a significant reduc- CONAIE president Luis Macas. tion in the rate of destruction of the environment after the United Nations He criticized governments andNGOs Conference on the Environment and De- for giving little importance to the "human velopment (UNCED) to be held in Rio de aspects of conservation" during preparaJaneiro in June, and demand that their tory discussions for the Earth Summit. voices be heard at that conference. "We have seen governments and environmentalists from both North and South get For the Confederation of Indigenous deeply involved in discussions on People of Ecuador (CONAIE), the nature biodiversity and technology, but without of the pre-UNCED negotiations held so speaking about us (Indians), who have far seem to point to the meeting being conserved theEarthformillennia,"Macas "great theater, with few concrete results". said. Oswaldo de Leon Kantule, a youth leader of the Kuna People ofPanama, said that he is opposed to the conference. He charges that it only provides a forum for governmental and non-governmental organizations and leaves out the native populations who are "the true defenders of Mother Earth." by the European invasion of the continent and has meant genocide, the negation of our culture, the violation of our human rights, racial discrimination, the usurpation of our natural resources and the occupation of our territories and sacred places. Currently the Indigenous Peoples find themselves very affected by the necessity created by the economic and cultural system imposed by the great powers and governments. At the same time we have contributF.Ai to the "development", sacrificing our peoples and resources without receiving any compensation. For a copy of the full text send $3 to SAilC. SAIIC Newsletter Delegates from the Ecuador ethnic conference had attended the Pre-UNCED negotiations which began in Kenya in August1990andendedlastMarchinNew York. For Macas, those who took part in the discussions "forgot the Indian tribes, who for centuries have lived in the forests and the high plateau of America." De Leon insisted that the UN summit He said Indigenous groups throughofficially recognize Indian groups as the out the world would present to the Rio true environmental protectors and give summit a report showing how the Indians them a forum from which to voice their view the universe and demanding that all demands after five centuries of exploita- economic activity in areas inhabited by tion, death and extennination. Indians be administrated by the Indigenous groups themselves. Indigenous groups say official documents to be signed at the Rio meeting would hardly stop the current rate of environmental destruction in the region. "It will be a grand spectacle where each government will want to appear the 6 Num 3 Powerfulcountriesmustincreasetheir economic aid, but at the same time, change their paternalistic and imperialistic outlook on he south," said Macas. He blamed the market society and the capitalistmodel for75 percent ofenvironmental deterioration in the world. Vianor Perez, Kunaactivist, described as "contradictory", the fact that Latin American governments wholeheartedly back the conference and at the same time, approve of the cutting down of the Amazonianforest.Everyyear,closeto200,000 acres of forest reserves are destroyed, tenitory which for centuries has provided food and shelter to the Indian population. "A fundamental issue that the conference must discuss is the Indians' right to use their own land," said Kuna leader de Leon. "If some kind of agreement is not reached, the Indigenous people of Latin America will only be left with the air they breathe and the little land that surrounds them now." "We indigenous peopleofBrazil don't expect much from that conference," said Allton Krenack, the Coordinator of the Union of Indian nations in Brazil. "Because the governments who will participate have made the decision a long time ago about their environmental police. It is really just a show." Source: Inter Press Service and SAIIC 35 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 6, No. 3 (Spring and Summer 1992) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian People Criticize Earth Summit Type The nature or genre of the resource Magazine Article Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Indian People Criticize Earth Summit Item Type Magazine Article Attachment Title vol. 6, No. 3 (35).pdf https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/24d9c30e7139a7accce0bd964601c244 b253864e416d7cbef77d9bf237d3c424 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 5, nos. 2&3 (12-13).pdf PDF Text Text backed Pinochet forces overthrew the government of Salvador Allende in September, 1973. The PTI presented their candidates for offices in all eight regions of Chile where the majority of people are Indigenous. The following is an excerpt from a letter SAIIC received from Cornelio Chipana Hererra. Indian People of Chile form their own Political Party The PTI- Practicing Unity in Diversity In the beginning of 1989, an organizational meeting with representatives from 28 Indian organizations across Chile was held. Aymara, Atacamena, Mapuche and Rapanui Indians were present. They decided to form their own political party, the Party of the Earth and Identity (PTI). The goals of the PTI are to achieve 1) representation as ethnic peoples in the Parliament, 2) constitutional recognition as peoples, 3) the official recognition of their languages, 4) bilingual and intercultural education, 5) the effective protection of their lands, waters and natural resources, and 6) the respect for and self-development of Indigenous peoples. The PTI defends the right of Indigenous communities to maintain their social, economic, and cultural organizations and their ancestral way of occupying the Earth. Elections were held in Chile on December 17, 1989, the first elections held since the US- '12 "We write to invoke the defense and dignity of the people. We are a people beaten down since the Spanish conquest when we were evicted from our best lands and a different system was imposed on us ... we were enslaved as laborers for the mines. We remained enslaved for 150 years. Since the War of the Pacific in 1879, we have been subjected to a process of Chileanization. This further undermined the basis of our society and translates today to underdevelopment or extreme poverty for our majority, our own self-hatred identity, the loss of our cultural models, and what is even more serious, the desire to integrate ourselves into the national majority. "We are rejected and discriminated against, leaving us suspended in a void as nonpersons; we are neither one, nor the other, because we have been denied the knowledge of our own history. In the last 15 years of authoritarian government, we have lived under the militarization of our zones; laws have been mandated whereby the government denies our legal existence, the free market is robbing us of our llamas and alpacas. Schools are being shut down in the rural zones because of the massive migration to the cities. The most serious and pressing problem is the usurpation of our water by the mining companies in our communities. If the phenomenon continues, our lands and communities will probably be abandoned. �"Our party [the PTI] is built around the ideals of harmonic development between humans, nature and technology, and most importantly we aim to put an end to the great injustices that the minorities in Chile have had to endure. Like our ancestors, we are especially ecology-minded. We interpret this to mean that we are dedicated to social equality, social order and respect for nature. We propose a unity in the diversity of the environment in the frame of an eco-justice. We believe we are part of the universal cosmos and therefore share all the joys and sorrows of our brothers and sisters of the Earth. We are all children of Pachamama (Aymara for Mother Earth). The Declaration of Principles explains that the historic commitment of the PTI is 'with the human-Earthcosmos relationship, which has always been the inspiration and the sustainment of the indigenous cosmovision." tions from the Mapuches - Huilliches and Kawaskagar in the South, the Aymara in the North, to the Rapa Nui from Easter Island, compiled an 18 page proposal to all political parties running in the elections. Some of the outstanding points of the proposal are: • "The Chilean Constitution must be changed so that the existence of Indigenous people is formally recognized and that Chile is a Plurinational country ... • The state must take immediate action to return land which was stolen from the Indian people by non-Indian people ... • The state should implement bilingual and bicultural education, with respect for the Indian cosmovision ... " Some of the more specific demands are as follows: " "The new government should give back to the Aymara people, the water rights in their territory. These rights have been revoked With a fond embrace and a warm greeting from our long suffering people, Cornelio Chipana Hererra Photo of A ymara Indian preparing llama for shearing by Wayne Bernhardson. National Secretary of the PTI Aymara del Norte, Chile ~ w People Indigenous Demand to be Heard by All Political Parties in Etections The "Technical Commission of Indigenous People," representing several Indian organiza- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 5, Nos. 2&amp;3 (Fall 1989 &amp; Winter 1990) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1989 & Winter 1990 Zotero Issue 2 & 3 Language English Publication Title SAIIC Volume 5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indian People of Chile Form Their Own Political Party: The PTI - Practicing Unity in Diversity (Chile) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article 2 & 3 Language A language of the resource English 2 & 3 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1989 & Winter 1990 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource 2 & 3 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2 & 3 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 2 & 3 Description An account of the resource 2 & 3 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 & 3 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2 & 3 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available 2 & 3 Relation A related resource 2 & 3 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource 2 & 3 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived 2 & 3 Subject The topic of the resource 2 & 3 Zotero Title Indian People of Chile Form Their Own Political Party: The PTI - Practicing Unity in Diversity (Chile) 2 & 3 Item Type Newspaper Article 2 & 3 Attachment Title Vol. 5, nos. 2&3 (12-13).pdf 2 & 3 Attachment URL [No URL] 2 & 3 Language English Volume 5 Artist 2 & 3 Attorney Agent 2 & 3 Book Author 2 & 3 Cartographer 2 & 3 Cast Member 2 & 3 Commenter 2 & 3 Composer 2 & 3 Contributor 2 & 3 Cosponsor 2 & 3 Counsel 2 & 3 Director 2 & 3 Editor 2 & 3 Guest 2 & 3 Interviewee 2 & 3 Interviewer 2 & 3 Inventor 2 & 3 Performer 2 & 3 Podcaster 2 & 3 Presenter 2 & 3 Producer 2 & 3 Programmer 2 & 3 Recipient 2 & 3 Reviewed Author 2 & 3 Scriptwriter 2 & 3 Series Editor 2 & 3 Sponsor 2 & 3 Translator 2 & 3 Words By 2 & 3 Note 2 & 3 DOI 2 & 3 ISBN 2 & 3 ISSN 2 & 3 Access Date 2 & 3 Application Number 2 & 3 Archive 2 & 3 Archive Location 2 & 3 Artwork Medium 2 & 3 Artwork Size 2 & 3 Assignee 2 & 3 Audio File Type 2 & 3 Audio Recording Format 2 & 3 Bill Number 2 & 3 Blog Title 2 & 3 Book Title 2 & 3 Call Number 2 & 3 Case Name 2 & 3 Code 2 & 3 Code Number 2 & 3 Code Pages 2 & 3 Code Volume 2 & 3 Committee 2 & 3 Company 2 & 3 Conference Name 2 & 3 Country 2 & 3 Court 2 & 3 Date 2 & 3 Date Decided 2 & 3 Date Enacted 2 & 3 Dictionary Title 2 & 3 Distributor 2 & 3 Docket Number 2 & 3 Document Number 2 & 3 Edition 2 & 3 Encyclopedia Title 2 & 3 Episode Number 2 & 3 Extra 2 & 3 Filing Date 2 & 3 First Page 2 & 3 Forum Title 2 & 3 Genre 2 & 3 History 2 & 3 Institution 2 & 3 Interview Medium 2 & 3 Issue 2 & 3 Issue Date 2 & 3 Issuing Authority 2 & 3 Journal Abbreviation 2 & 3 Label 2 & 3 Legal Status 2 & 3 Legislative Body 2 & 3 Letter Type 2 & 3 Library Catalog 2 & 3 Manuscript Type 2 & 3 Map Type 2 & 3 Medium 2 & 3 Meeting Name 2 & 3 Name of Act 2 & 3 Network 2 & 3 Num Pages 2 & 3 Number 2 & 3 Number of Volumes 2 & 3 Pages 12 & 13 Patent Number 2 & 3 Place 2 & 3 Post Type 2 & 3 Presentation Type 2 & 3 Priority Numbers 2 & 3 Proceedings Title 2 & 3 Program Title 2 & 3 Programming Language 2 & 3 Public Law Number 2 & 3 Publication Title SAIIC Publisher 2 & 3 References 2 & 3 Report Number 2 & 3 Report Type 2 & 3 Reporter 2 & 3 Reporter Volume 2 & 3 Rights 2 & 3 Running Time 2 & 3 Scale 2 & 3 Section 2 & 3 Series 2 & 3 Series Number 2 & 3 Series Text 2 & 3 Series Title 2 & 3 Session 2 & 3 Short Title 2 & 3 Studio 2 & 3 Subject 2 & 3 System 2 & 3 Thesis Type 2 & 3 University 2 & 3 URL 2 & 3 Version 2 & 3 Video Recording Format 2 & 3 Website Title 2 & 3 Website Type 2 & 3 Abstract Note The Party of Earth and Identity was formed by several Indian nations in the beginning of 1989. Atacamena Aymara Fall 1989 Mapuche Party of the Earth and Identity Rapanui Winter 1990