[News] Indigenous in Argentina "Drowning in Sadness"
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Apr 26 13:37:57 EDT 2010
Indigenous in Argentina "Drowning in Sadness"
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/argentina-archives-32/2464-indigenous-in-argentina-qdrowning-in-sadnessq
Written by Marcela Valente
Monday, 26 April 2010 11:37
(IPS) - The legal battle waged by an indigenous
community in northern Argentina against the
government over a project that flooded half of
their territory highlights the fact that legal
title to their land is not enough to overcome the
marginalisation they have faced for centuries.
El Descanso, 1,500 kilometres north of Buenos
Aires, is a Pilagá indigenous community in the
northeastern Argentine province of Formosa. It is
located next to the La Estrella wetlands, an area
spanning 400,000 hectares that undergoes rises in
water levels periodically throughout the year.
In 1997 the provincial government began
construction on a canal on the Río del Norte
river that was meant to divert water from the
wetlands to other settlements. But the project
was never completed, and in addition, it flooded
1,000 of the 2,500 hectares of land that have
been officially declared Pilagá territory.
What was formerly natural and temporary flooding
has become permanent and affected local
biodiversity, leading to a shortage of natural
resources that the Pilagá people need for their survival.
"The technical experts came into our community
and took their measurements in front of us, as if
they owned the place. But we have ownership
deeds, fences and animals," said community leader César Salazar.
The Pilagá filed a lawsuit against the provincial
government in 2001, but nothing came of it. Their
ongoing struggle is documented in a newly
released report, "Exigimos respeto. Argentina:
Los derechos de los pilagá del bañado La
Estrella" (We Demand Respect. Argentina: The
rights of the Pilagá of the La Estrella wetlands).
The report, prepared by the Argentine chapter of
Amnesty International (AI) and the residents of
El Descanso themselves, notes that the community
is home to "around 130 people, who belong to 13
nuclear families which, in turn, form part of six extended families."
The violation of their rights is "a case that
demonstrates the vulnerability and discrimination
faced by indigenous people in Argentina," said
Gabriela Boada, the executive director of AI Argentina.
Some 600,000 of the more than 40 million people
of this South American country identify
themselves as indigenous people. Of the roughly
30 indigenous groups in the country, the largest
are the Mapuche, Kolla and Toba, according to
figures from the government-run Institute of Indigenous Affairs.
The Pilagá people, who live in the provinces of
Formosa and neighbouring Chaco, number around 6,000 in total.
The violence and exploitation to which the
residents of El Descanso have been subjected,
says the new report, "are just one example of the
cycle of discrimination, exclusion, forced
silence and insecurity that keeps indigenous
peoples mired in poverty and contributes to the
violation of their human rights."
The lawyer representing the Pilagá people, Roxana
Silva, told IPS that the lawsuit against the
provincial government for undertaking the doomed
project without previously consulting the
community was filed a full nine years ago, but
since that time, there has been only a single hearing.
The community is demanding compensation for the
large area of their land that has been flooded,
which was occupied by a cemetery, a school, a
community centre and the homes of seven families.
But up until now, they have not even succeeded in
getting the judge to order an inspection of the site.
"Obviously, the ownership deeds that this
community possesses do not guarantee them the
right to their land," commented Silva, a member
of the Equipo Nacional Diocesano de Pastoral
Aborigen (National Pastoral Indigenous Group), a Catholic Church organisation.
In this case, the government "violated the right
of the community to give prior, free and informed
consent" to the project -- a right protected by
the international agreements that Argentina has
incorporated into its own national constitution, says AI.
Saturnino Miranda, a delegate from the Federation
of the Pilagá People, which represents 20
communities, stated at the launch of the report
that the government recognises their ownership of
their land, "but by not consulting us, it
tramples our rights and seeks to weaken us."
He reported that the most active members of the
community, and some of their allies, such as
Silva, have been subjected to threats and
harassment, as well as false promises of solutions that never arrive.
Miranda stressed that the rights of indigenous
peoples do not outweigh the rights of any other
Argentine citizens, "but we demand equality" and
a swift decision by the courts, he said.
"If we continue waiting, then 50 years from now,
although we have the ownership deeds, we will not
have our land, and without land we cannot have
food, health or education," he said.
The representatives of the community described
how their lives had changed following the canal
project. Not only has the local economy been
affected -- many have been forced to look for
work outside the community -- but also their habitat and quality of life.
"We used to easily catch fish in the wetlands.
The women would head out in the morning and bring
back fish for lunch," Oscar Florico, a resident of El Descanso, told IPS.
But as a result of the platform constructed in
the wetlands by the Department of Water
Resources, without conducting an environmental
impact assessment or consulting with the local
residents, the river and forests have become practically inaccessible.
"The algarrobo trees have withered and the
animals have died. My family had 100 goats and
now they only have 15 because the pasture land is now underwater," he said.
"We are drowning in sadness. We dont know
whether to live or die. We cant find a way out of this," Florico said.
The shrinking of the Pilagá communitys territory
has also had an impact on their health. Although
they have no medical facilities close by, they
were traditionally able to depend up their own
medical plant remedies, which are now out of
their reach because of the flooding.
"Our aim is for them to make reparations for what
they have done to us," Salazar told IPS.
"They must fix the fences they destroyed,
compensate us for the 1,000 hectares of land that
were flooded, and above all, they must consult
us, so that we can voice our opinions," he said.
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