Venezuela to Present Report on Indigenous Rights at UN

This Monday the Venezuelan chapter of the Indigenous Parliament of America completed the final details of a report on the levels of inclusion of original peoples in Venezuela communities. Proposals to include the people who were excluded for more than 500 years, since the arrival of the colonizers in America.

The report will be presented at the World Summit on Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations that will be held on September 22 and 23 in New York City. 

The document systematizes all the policies fostered by the leader of the Bolivian Revolution, Hugo Chávez, after his victory in the presidential elections of 1998 and his call to a Constituent Assembly, says organization president César Sanguinetti.

Sanguinetti noted that the Constitution of Venezuela of 1961 “only contemplated one chapter on indigenous peoples which was, in fact, degrading, because they were classed as an exceptional regime which the State was responsible for gradually incorporating into civilization.”  

He added that each original people “has its own cosmovision and  its own culture, and this is reflected in the Constitution of 1999.”  

He added that “the revolutionary process has recognized the ancestral rights of the autochthonous  communities and promoted their full inclusion.”  

Sanguinetti stated that during the 15 years of the Bolivarian Revolution, the actions taken to protect indigenous people “are not only included in the constitutional juridical framework, but have also been consolidated through the application of effective policies aimed at achieving the inclusion of people who were excluded for more than 500 years, since the arrival of the colonizers in America.”

An example of this is the creation of a Ministry with jurisdiction over the affairs of indigenous communities and peoples, one that is “unique in Latin America.” 

He specifically pointed to the Guaicaipuro Mission, which seeks to  restore territorial titles and human rights to the numerous autochthonous settlements in the country.