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. 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, V ctor Hugo C rdenas, 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. 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.