Panamanian Authorities Urged to Ratify Indigenous Pact
Deputy Patricio Montezuma has called on the Panamanian Government and the National Assembly (Parliament) to ratify the Agreement 169 on the rights of indigenous peoples.

In remarks to journalists on Wednesday, the member of the Congress Committee on Indigenous Affairs recalled that the treaty was presented 18 years ago by the International Labor Organization.

The initiative has been already embraced by several regional countries, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Honduras and Paraguay.

This international agreement is a long standing aspiration of the indigenous peoples, and its ratification will complete an important phase, the legislator said.

With 285,000 people, the Panamanian ethnic groups (Ngobe Bugle, Embera, Wounnan, Kuna Yala and Bri Bri) make up 10 percent of the country's population.

The country's poverty rate is 40 percent, but it reaches over 95 percent among the indigenous population, according to official figures.