Winding path of laws and reforms

Winding path of laws and reforms

The trend toward broader rights is clear, but progress is uneven

By Roger Hamilton

Many Latin American countries are taking steps to recognize the rights and identities of indigenous peoples, turning their backs on past policies based on assimilation and paternalism.

A couple in La Paz apply for a small loan in a branch office of an IDB-financed microcredit institution

But while the path the region is taking is clear, it is by no means straight. Issues affecting indigenous peoples are often controversial and bound up in history and politics. For example, the peace accord that ended Guatemala’s 36-year civil conflict produced a number of gains for indigenous peoples, including a provision that set in motion a process that would enable the country’s Mayan peoples to administer justice according to their own traditions. But at the same time, Guatemalan voters last May rejected constitutional reforms that would have granted the Mayans a broad series of additional rights.

The former president of the Bolivia-based Indigenous Peoples Fund, Víctor Hugo Cárdenas, is optimistic that Latin America’s indigenous people will continue to benefit from a growing number of constitutional changes and reform measures being carried out by a number of countries. Here is a brief rundown:

Constitutional reforms passed in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay recognize the multicultural character of those countries. Laws, decrees and resolutions are beginning to put these constitutional principles into practice.
In Bolivia, Guatemala and Colombia, reforms recognize indigenous judicial systems and the rights of native communities to administer justice under certain conditions.
A number of countries have made constitutional changes that strengthen rights of indigenous people to exploit natural resources such as forests and water.
The majority of countries with large indigenous populations now recognize native languages and promote bilingual and intercultural education.
In Guatemala and Chile, corporations or special funds have been established to help promote development of indigenous peoples. Some countries have appointed public defenders or ombudsmen responsible for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.
In Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, relations between the government and the indigenous communities are being handled by ministerial positions.
In Bolivia and Colombia, the process of governmental decentralization has included transfers of funds to local administrative jurisdictions, which are often controlled by indigenous people.

While the changes are encouraging on paper, Cárdenas cautions that their implementation on a case by case, person by person basis can be something else. Bureaucracies change slowly, as do paternalistic and discriminatory attitudes, he says. Moreover, money for rural development and social programs is grossly inadequate for solving the urgent problem of poverty.

“In Latin America,” he says, “the majority of the poor are indigenous. Solving this problem is a serious challenge for our region’s democratic systems.”