Post by Okwes on Oct 30, 2006 11:29:09 GMT -5
N. American tribal leaders energized by Morales meet
By Haider Rizvi
Tierramerica
Updated Oct 23, 2006, 09:04 am
<http://www.fcn-networks.com/cgi-bin/refer.cgi>
Bolivia's President Evo Morales, wearing a poncho typical of
Chile's Mapuche Indians, addressed the crowd during a ceremony
opening a mass rally attended by thousands of Chileans who cheered the
leftist Bolivian leader, in Santiago, Chile, Mar. 10. Pres. Morales
visited Chile to attend Michelle Bachelet's inauguration on Mar. 11.
Photo: AP/World Wide PhotosUNITED NATIONS (IPS/GIN) - Recent contacts
between Bolivian President Evo Morales and leaders of North American
native groups have raised new hopes for the Indigenous people of North
and South America, whose 500-year-old struggle for self-determination
has yet to be recognized by the world.
When Pres. Morales, South America's first Indigenous president,
arrived in New York in early September to attend the United Nations
General Assembly session, the first thing he did the very next morning
was to request a meeting with the native sons and daughters of the soil.
He was immediately welcomed with traditional warmth.
"It was a very significant meeting in our struggles," observed
Tonya Frichner, founder of the New York-based American Indian Law
Alliance, an Indigenous rights group, which organized the meeting in
collaboration with the UN Indigenous Peoples' Forum. "For him to
honor us by meeting with our traditional leaders is another step in the
undeniable presence of Indigenous peoples in international advocacy,
especially human rights."
Before meeting with the Native American leaders from the Haudenosaunee,
Lakota and Cree nations, among others, Pres. Morales insisted that the
gathering be small because he wanted to have a "frank and
substantive" discussion on the issues shared by the native peoples
of the Western Hemisphere.
The North American tribal leaders told Pres. Morales about how they have
been struggling to preserve their identity, resources and rights for
generations, and asked what they could do to support the natives of
South America.
For his part, Pres. Morales, who is an Aymara Indian, emphasized the
need for continued contacts between the Indigenous people of the
hemisphere and stated that the "time has come for resistance to
power."
"Meeting with you here today obligates me to be even more committed
to our Mother Earth," he told his hosts from the North American
nations.
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said when most of the world
speaks of freedom, it speaks only of humans. "But society must also
include freedom for the natural world; the plants, the animals, the
water."
In his view, "everything must be a complement to everything else,
and this is more than freedom. It is a balance of all life we seek."
Both sides agreed to arrange more meetings between the Indigenous people
of the South and the North and exchanged invitations for visits. During
his discussions, Pres. Morales also took up the issue of the Declaration
of the Rights of the World's Indigenous People, which is due to be
discussed by the General Assembly this fall for adoption.
The declaration has been endorsed by the Geneva-based Human Rights
Council, as well as various other UN agencies. The document, which was
put together by the world body's Indigenous Peoples Forum early this
year, calls for governments to recognize the native peoples' right
to self-determination and the principle of "prior and informed
consent" with regard to development activities on native lands.
Though it is not binding on governments, Indigenous leaders hope that it
would help put an end to massive human rights abuses.
According to the UN, there are more than 370 million Indigenous peoples
in the world, whose participation in the global efforts to preserve the
environment and introduce sustainable development is indispensable.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand, for example, have
consistently opposed the demand for "self-determination" by
arguing that it undermines "democratic values." They have also
objected to the phrase "prior and informed consent."
For his part, Pres. Morales is also actively involved in the efforts to
gather support for the declaration from the countries of the South,
which dominate the 192-member General Assembly.
In his recent speech to the General Assembly, like Venezuelan president
Hugo Chavez, Pres. Morales emerged as another harsh critic of the U.S.
role in global politics and economy, saying that it has no right to
impose its "neoliberal" economic models of development on the
world's poor and Indigenous people.
"He is honest, he is brilliant and sincere to the cause of
Indigenous peoples," said Ms. Frichner from the American Indian
Onondaga Nation. "We know he cannot fix all that has happened in the
past 500 years, but it is our responsibility to be supportive of
him."
By Haider Rizvi
Tierramerica
Updated Oct 23, 2006, 09:04 am
<http://www.fcn-networks.com/cgi-bin/refer.cgi>
Bolivia's President Evo Morales, wearing a poncho typical of
Chile's Mapuche Indians, addressed the crowd during a ceremony
opening a mass rally attended by thousands of Chileans who cheered the
leftist Bolivian leader, in Santiago, Chile, Mar. 10. Pres. Morales
visited Chile to attend Michelle Bachelet's inauguration on Mar. 11.
Photo: AP/World Wide PhotosUNITED NATIONS (IPS/GIN) - Recent contacts
between Bolivian President Evo Morales and leaders of North American
native groups have raised new hopes for the Indigenous people of North
and South America, whose 500-year-old struggle for self-determination
has yet to be recognized by the world.
When Pres. Morales, South America's first Indigenous president,
arrived in New York in early September to attend the United Nations
General Assembly session, the first thing he did the very next morning
was to request a meeting with the native sons and daughters of the soil.
He was immediately welcomed with traditional warmth.
"It was a very significant meeting in our struggles," observed
Tonya Frichner, founder of the New York-based American Indian Law
Alliance, an Indigenous rights group, which organized the meeting in
collaboration with the UN Indigenous Peoples' Forum. "For him to
honor us by meeting with our traditional leaders is another step in the
undeniable presence of Indigenous peoples in international advocacy,
especially human rights."
Before meeting with the Native American leaders from the Haudenosaunee,
Lakota and Cree nations, among others, Pres. Morales insisted that the
gathering be small because he wanted to have a "frank and
substantive" discussion on the issues shared by the native peoples
of the Western Hemisphere.
The North American tribal leaders told Pres. Morales about how they have
been struggling to preserve their identity, resources and rights for
generations, and asked what they could do to support the natives of
South America.
For his part, Pres. Morales, who is an Aymara Indian, emphasized the
need for continued contacts between the Indigenous people of the
hemisphere and stated that the "time has come for resistance to
power."
"Meeting with you here today obligates me to be even more committed
to our Mother Earth," he told his hosts from the North American
nations.
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said when most of the world
speaks of freedom, it speaks only of humans. "But society must also
include freedom for the natural world; the plants, the animals, the
water."
In his view, "everything must be a complement to everything else,
and this is more than freedom. It is a balance of all life we seek."
Both sides agreed to arrange more meetings between the Indigenous people
of the South and the North and exchanged invitations for visits. During
his discussions, Pres. Morales also took up the issue of the Declaration
of the Rights of the World's Indigenous People, which is due to be
discussed by the General Assembly this fall for adoption.
The declaration has been endorsed by the Geneva-based Human Rights
Council, as well as various other UN agencies. The document, which was
put together by the world body's Indigenous Peoples Forum early this
year, calls for governments to recognize the native peoples' right
to self-determination and the principle of "prior and informed
consent" with regard to development activities on native lands.
Though it is not binding on governments, Indigenous leaders hope that it
would help put an end to massive human rights abuses.
According to the UN, there are more than 370 million Indigenous peoples
in the world, whose participation in the global efforts to preserve the
environment and introduce sustainable development is indispensable.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand, for example, have
consistently opposed the demand for "self-determination" by
arguing that it undermines "democratic values." They have also
objected to the phrase "prior and informed consent."
For his part, Pres. Morales is also actively involved in the efforts to
gather support for the declaration from the countries of the South,
which dominate the 192-member General Assembly.
In his recent speech to the General Assembly, like Venezuelan president
Hugo Chavez, Pres. Morales emerged as another harsh critic of the U.S.
role in global politics and economy, saying that it has no right to
impose its "neoliberal" economic models of development on the
world's poor and Indigenous people.
"He is honest, he is brilliant and sincere to the cause of
Indigenous peoples," said Ms. Frichner from the American Indian
Onondaga Nation. "We know he cannot fix all that has happened in the
past 500 years, but it is our responsibility to be supportive of
him."