The presentation examines indigenous societies in Latin America, its contributions and challenges.

1. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
OF LATIN AMERICA
Topic 2. Latin American International Relations and
Foreign Policies.
Indigenous peoples in Latin America
Dr. Jacqueline LAGUARDIA MARTINEZ
Jacqueline.Laguardia-Martinez@sta.uwi.edu

2. It is estimated that, by 2010, around 45 million
indigenous people lived in Latin America,
representing 8.3% of the region’s population.
There are currently 826 indigenous peoples. It
is estimated that another 200 peoples live in
voluntary isolation.
On 1989, it was signed the Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples Convention.
On September 2007, the UNGA adopted the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples.
On September 2014, the UN held the World
Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
The Consenso de Montevideo sobre Población y
Desarrollo (2015) includes a chapter on
indigenous peoples’ rights.

3. Indigenous peoples in Latin America
• During the European colonization, indigenous peoples were stripped of the
territories they inhabited, of their spaces of social and cultural reproduction and also
of their own culture. The irruption meant the loss of their political territoriality, of
sovereignty over their territories and inaugurated a cycle of exploitation and
discrimination that continued after the creation of national States in the region
(massive extermination in Argentina and Chile).
• Processes of indigenous invisibilization occurred when assimilating indigenous
societies into a large peasant mass. A strong relationship was established between
peasant/indigenous/rural.
• Towards the 1970s started the migration of “peasants” to large capitals and urban
centers. These processes began to break the indigenous invisibilization.
• Indigenous societies began to emerge and become closer to the rest of the society
because they moved to the urban environment.

4. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/50228-undplac-web.pdf

5. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/50228-undplac-web.pdf

6. Indigenous People’s Educational Attainment: Rural vs. Urban
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145891467991974540/pdf/98544-REVISED-WP-P148348-Box394854B-PUBLIC-Indigenous-Latin-America.pdf

7. Percentage of Indigenous People with Access to Electricity
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145891467991974540/pdf/98544-REVISED-WP-P148348-Box394854B-PUBLIC-Indigenous-Latin-America.pdf

8. Access to Computers
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145891467991974540/pdf/98544-REVISED-WP-P148348-Box394854B-PUBLIC-Indigenous-Latin-America.pdf

9. Indigenous peoples in Latin America
• Indigenous peoples are the holders of
traditional knowledge and practices valuable
for the preservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity (knowledge of medicine, the
properties of plants, seeds and herbs) together
with oral traditions, languages and artistic
designs that are applied in the visual arts,
ceramics and textiles.
• They practice alternative economic models
based on collective property and
environmental awareness.
• Almost 50% live in the cities. They are highly
affected by poverty and social exclusion.
Collasuyu: Chile,
Argentina, Bolivia and
Perú
Antisuyu: Bolivia,
Perú, Ecuador and
Colombia
Chinchasuyu: Perú,
Ecuador and Colombia
Cuntisuyu: Perú
Wiphala Flags
Flag of Cusco

10. Indigenous political participation in Latin America
• Panama: In 1925, the State recognized the Kuna Yala Shire
• In the 1990s, during the highest point of neoliberalism in the region, there was a boom
on indigenous movements.
• January 1994: The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) takes control of large
areas in Chiapas. Its main body is made up of mostly rural indigenous people and they
seek indigenous control over their local resources, especially land.
• Ecuador: Movimiento de Unidad Plurinacional Pachakutik-Nuevo País (initiated in 1995)
• Nicaragua: Yatama (initiated in 1998)
• January 2000: Destitution of Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad. A social protest leaded
by the Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (Conaie created in 1986),
with the support o the army, took the National Congress.
• Guatemala: Winaq (initiated in 2007)

11. Indigenous political participation in Latin America during the Pink Tide
• At the community level there was the revitalization of ancestral social structures
and institutions to organize collective work as the Minga, RantiRanti, Priostasgos
Cargos, Compadrazgos, MarkakTayta, Ayni, Minka, Jayna o Phayna, Anxata,
Jaqqhata, Yanapa, Sataqawi and Manq’xaruña.
• Indigenous rights recognized in new Constitutions (Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela)
and in amended Constitutions.
• Bolivia is now defined as the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The first indigenous
president is the aymara indigenous Evo Morales ( January 2006 - ).
• Up to 2013, Bolivia had the highest percentage of indigenous parliamentary
representation (32% of the total), followed by Guatemala with 12%. In the rest of
the countries, the proportion of indigenous parliamentarians remains below 10 %.
• However, there are multiple contradictions still with Nation – States.

12. Indigenous movement in Latin America: key demands
• Land to be a source of life and water to be a fundamental human right;
• Decoloniality of power and community self-government;
• Decoloniality of science and technology;
• Unity, equity and gender complementarity;
• Respect for the diverse spiritualties and beliefs;
• Liberation from all racist, ethnic or sexist domination or discrimination;
• Collective decisions on production, markets and the economy;
• Alternative social ethics to that of the market;
• Plurinational States

13. Indigenous peoples’ challenges in Latin America
• The disruptive emergence of the mega-mining and other extractive industries has
put pressures on the territories of indigenous peoples and triggered socio-
environmental conflicts.
• The appropriation of traditional knowledge, the biodiversity associated with it and
genetic resources, is the new expression of the historical process of dispossession of
the indigenous peoples of Latin America.
• A different understanding of what development means, from perspectives which
includes principles of life such as reciprocity, solidarity, respect, complementarity,
dignity, collective participation, social justice, harmony with mother nature and the
community, and collective and family well-being (“buen vivir” or “vivir bien”).
How to integrate indigenous peoples’ rights and self-determination into a
model of natural resource governance and effective political
representation?

14. Map of extractive projects in the
mining and hydrocarbon sector in
territories inhabited by indigenous
peoples, 2010-2013
https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/37050/4/S1420783_es.pdf

16. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/50228-undplac-web.pdf