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QUITO,
May 4 (IPS) - More than 150 indigenous leaders from throughout
the world meet next Monday through Friday in Panama to hash out
strategies in defence of their rights and discuss integration processes
like the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
The
First Millenium Conference of Indigenous Peoples is being organised
by Panama's Napguana (''the centre of the earth'', in the Kuna tongue)
Association, and sponsored by the Dutch Centre for Indigenous Peoples
(NCIV-Nederlands Centrum Voor Inheemese Volken).
The
international conference will draw up a declaration to present to
the UN World Conference Against Racism and Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, slated for September in South
Africa.
Atencio
López, the coordinator of the Conference, said the sharing
of experiences by representatives of different countries will be
a first step towards greater communication among native peoples
worldwide.
''Indigenous
peoples have always been disregarded, and we cannot remain silent.
The conference is a way to say 'no' to marginalisation,'' said López.
One
of the most potentially controversial points to be brought up at
the forum will be the position of indigenous peoples with respect
to the talks for the creation of the FTAA.
The
president of the Napguana Association, Nelson de León, believes
it is necessary to call on the governments of the Americas to include
representatives of the region's indigenous communities in the talks,
and said he would propose a formal resolution to that effect at
next week's assembly.
But
a number of indigenous groups from the Americas, including the powerful
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), believe
the FTAA should simply be rejected outright.
The
vice-president of CONAIE, Ricardo Ulcuango, told IPS that once the
hemispheric free trade agreement went into effect, equitable ties
between countries in the region would be impossible.
The
activist said his opposition to the FTAA was based on the fact that
it was designed to guarantee a ''one-way'' opening of the Latin
American market to the interests of the United States.
''Many
governments are irresponsibly leading their countries into a whirlwind,
in which the indigenous peoples and different productive sectors
will pay the consequences, with a rise in unemployment, destruction
of the environment, dependence and loss of sovereignty,'' he argued.
For
that reason, CONAIE backs all protests and other actions against
the FTAA being undertaken throughout the Americas, said Ulcuango.
''It
is time to come up with new forms of integration among our peoples.
We are presenting initiatives of alternative development based on
indigenous peoples and civil society. Only our active participation
can guarantee fair processes for overcoming poverty and dependence,''
he maintained.
More
than 300 indigenous delegates from the Americas meeting last month
in the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa drafted a document in
which they expressed their discrepancies with the FTAA.
Among
the prominent Latin American indigenous leaders attending the Ottawa
meeting were Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchú,
and the president of CONAIE, Antonio Vargas.
The
document was submitted to the Third Summit of the Americas, held
Apr 20-22 in the Canadian city of Quebec, where the hemisphere's
leaders agreed to launch the FTAA by December 2005.
Integration
in the Americas will thus be one of the main points on the agenda
at next week's conference in Panama, where representatives of Canada,
Chile, Hawaii, Norway, Morocco and Panama will be in charge of international
coordination at the conference, which will include lectures, workshops
and panels.
Other
goals of the meeting are to assess the progress made and the future
outlook for the period 1994-2004, declared the international decade
of indigenous peoples by the United Nations.
De
León said indigenous peoples have seen few gains since 1994
when it comes to defending their rights. ''The communities continue
to be illegally evicted from their ancestral lands when oil or other
natural wealth is discovered. In many countries the laws look pretty
on paper, but they are rarely translated into practice,'' he said.
The
Napguana Assocation was created by the Kuna people of Panama in
1991.
The
group's ''objectives are to foment cooperation, promote training,
provide professional assistance to indigenous communities and forge
closer ties with institutions that share our goals,'' said De León.
Next
week's gathering, which is to conclude with the signing of the ''Panama
Declaration'' to be presented at the UN World Conference on Racism
later this year, will also examine the role played by multilateral
institutions like the World Bank and World Trade Organisation, and
their relationship with indigenous peoples.
Another
key point on the agenda will be the question of intellectual property,
since many native communities complain that the international pharmaceutical
industry is exploiting indigenous knowledge to produce medicines.
The
Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which
is being debated by the UN Human Rights Commission, will also be
discussed.
In
addition, the Inter-American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples will be reviewed, as well as the question of the creation
of a Permanent UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
Another
CONAIE leader, Blanca Chancoso, said a Permanent UN Forum would
raise public awareness around the world with respect to the situation
of native peoples.
However,
the indigenous activist stressed the need for native organisations
in Latin America to consolidate a network of solidarity between
rural and indigenous peoples. The aim of the network would be for
protest and solidarity actions to be held throughout the region
whenever uprisings occur in one nation, said Chancoso.
Ecuador's
indigenous movement is considered the best organised and strongest
in Latin America. It played a key role in the downfall of the governments
of Abdala Bucaram in 1997 and Jamil Mahuad in 2000. (END/IPS/tra-so/kl/dm/sw/01)
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