[R-G] Native Leaders Half-Heartedly Embrace ‘Historic’ Declaration

[Anthony Fenton]

LATIN AMERICA:  Native Leaders Half-Heartedly Embrace ‘Historic’  
Declaration
By Diego Cevallos

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39275

MEXICO CITY, Sep 14 (IPS) - While governments and the representatives  
of international agencies celebrated the approval of the Universal  
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples after more than two  
decades of negotiations, some native leaders and experts in Latin  
America were less enthusiastic.

In their criticism of the document, indigenous leaders Manuel Castro  
of Ecuador and Luis Andrade of Colombia, as well as the former  
director of the Inter-American Indigenous Institute, José del Val,  
pointed out to IPS that it is non-binding, and that parts of it were  
negotiated with little participation by the representatives of its  
presumptive beneficiaries.

A slightly different stance was taken by the spokesman for the  
Rigoberto Menchú Foundation, Elmer Erazo, who said the Declaration  
could be considered a stride forward "to the extent that indigenous  
people make use of it."

But, he told IPS, "it's nothing to jump up and down about."

The Declaration was adopted Thursday by majority vote in the United  
Nations General Assembly. Only four countries -- the United States,  
Canada, Australia and New Zealand -- voted against it, while  
Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya,  
Nigeria, Russia, Samoa and Ukraine abstained.

The 12-page Declaration states that indigenous peoples have the right  
"to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal  
and local affairs".

It also says native peoples have the right to maintain their cultures  
and to not be displaced from their land, and urges states to  
indemnify them when their land or resources are used or damaged  
without their consent.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who is himself an Aymara Indian, said  
he was pleased with the approval of the Declaration, and added that  
"These standards will help ensure that everyone has the same rights  
and that we will stop being marginalised."

Morales called on his indigenous sisters and brothers to take part in  
a world summit on Oct. 10-11 to celebrate and analyse the  
implications and repercussions of the Declaration.

Others, however, see less reason to celebrate.

"Twenty years of debate to produce this document, and we end up with  
a non-binding declaration that does not force governments to do  
anything; this is a disgrace," said Castro, spokesman for the  
influential Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador  
(CONAIE).

For his part, Andrade, president of the National Indigenous  
Organisation of Colombia (ONIC), said the new instrument "is like  
saying yes, but no," since it is non-binding. In his view, many  
governments signed the document "just for the sake of image."

With respect to the fact that Colombia abstained from voting -- the  
only Latin American country to do so -- Andrade said "it showed that  
the administration (of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe) threatens  
the right of indigenous people and is their enemy."

Del Val, the former director of the Inter-American Indigenous  
Institute, said the Declaration should be taken "as an ethical and  
moral reference point for indigenous peoples, but nothing more than  
that."

"It is a non-binding, very general declaration full of vague terms  
and tricky wording," said del Val, who is the head of the Mexico  
Multicultural Nation University Programme (PUMC) at the Autonomous  
National University of Mexico.

"Many governments signed it as a formality, just to get it out of the  
way," he said.

Erazo, of the Menchú Foundation, which is headed by Guatemalan  
indigenous leader and Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchú, agrees  
that the Declaration has no teeth.

He recommended, however, seeing it "as a weapon to be used by the  
people."

According to signatory governments and U.N. authorities, including  
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Declaration is a triumph for the  
world’s 270 million aboriginal people. "This marks a historic moment  
when member states and indigenous peoples reconciled with their  
painful histories," said Ban.

But CONAIE’s Castro saw such reactions as overblown. "In our view,  
there is no significant gain, if we also take into account that we  
were not well-represented in the negotiations and that very few  
indigenous people are even aware of the existence of this document."

"There are a number of laws and agreements that talk about our  
rights; this is just one more that is on its way to becoming dead  
letter," he said.

Native leaders from the region, some of whom were not widely accepted  
or considered highly representative, took part in the negotiations at  
different points.

"We participated in some debates, but we have to say truthfully that  
the level of representation of most indigenous peoples was extremely  
low," said Andrade.

According to government statistics, there are 38.5 million indigenous  
people in the Americas. However, that figure is seen by many experts  
as too low.

What there is no discrepancy over is the fact that indigenous people  
are the most vulnerable social group in the region, suffering the  
highest levels of poverty, and the most limited access to health  
care, education, decent housing and an adequate diet.

But in recent years, some indigenous groups in Latin America have  
become more organised and gained influence and political power,  
especially in countries like Ecuador and Bolivia.

Indigenous movements played a key role, for example, in toppling  
presidents Jamil Mahuad, in January 2000 in Ecuador, and Gonzalo  
Sánchez de Lozada, in October 2003 in Bolivia. In addition, Bolivia  
now has its first-ever indigenous president, who took office in early  
2006. (END/2007)