From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Date: 14 Aug 92 10:27 PDT
Subject: IPS:Venezuela: Amerindians Want
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1473800260:000:3343
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Aug 14 10:27:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: IPS:Venezuela: Amerindians Want

/* Written 12:21 am  Aug 14, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: VENEZUELA: AMERINDIANS WANT LAND RIGHTS INCLUDED IN
CONSTITUTION

caracas, aug 11 (ips) -- venezuela's amerindians have appealed to
parliament to correct a proposed constitutional amendment which
calls for their incorporation into ''civilization'' but fails to
mention their right to the lands on which they live.

they also asked parliament on tuesday for technical assistance in
legislative matters relating to the rights of indigenous peoples.

members of two ethnic groups, the yupka and the wuayuu, travelled
to caracas from the northwestern region of zulia, to present the
demands of the 27 amerindian peoples here.

venezuela's 20, 000 amerindians comprise just 0.1 percent of the
country's population, estimated at 20 million. they live mainly in
the northwest, along the eastern banks and delta of the orinoco
river and in the amazon region in the south of the country.

a parliamentary commission which drafted reforms to venezuela's
1961 commission originally amended a constitutional article which
had equated the country's amerindians and peasant communities.

the amended text recognized the existence of indigenous peoples
and their right to use the lands they inhabit for productive
activities.

it also recognized their right to bilingual education and to
preserving their culture.

however, the lower house subsequently changed the article,
eliminating the reference to amerindian land rights and
stipulating that their full incorporation into venezuelan society
should be promoted.

this has sparked a controversy in the south american country.

the draft is still to come up for parliamentary approval, but the
amerindian representatives say that if it is passed as it stands
they risk losing the lands on which their peoples have lived since
time immemorial.

however, they also admitted that the article represents an
improvement because until now indigenous and peasant communities
were equated in the constitution.

they amerindians have also demanded congressional approval for
convention 169 of the international labour organization on
indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries, recognized
thus far by 14 nations. (more)
----

the convention calls for the recognition of the rights of
aboriginal peoples to property and the ownership of the lands they
traditionally occupy.

venezuela's amerindians have seen their territory shrink over the
years. their rights as citizens and as human beings are
systematically violated, the representatives said.

numbering an estimated 350,000 at the time of the arrival of
europeans in the area which later became venezuela, their
population has been drastically reduced since then.

only eight of the 1,062 amerindian communities here have
definitive titles to their land, while another 151 have
provisional land titles.

the issue is of crucial importance for venezuela's amerindians.

in addition to being their main means of subsistence, land also
plays a determining role in their system of beliefs and
traditions.(end/ips/trd/so/caf-cs/kb/92)
----

Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america