Latin American
Indigenous Demand Land,
Schools
Victims of colonial
dispossession isolated
in remote places, Latin
American indigenous
peoples are currently
demanding land for food
and to live safely, as
well as education and
health care, the
Inter-American Congress
of Indigenous Peoples in
Panama made known on
Thursday.
About 300 delegates,
including experts from
international and NGOs
from Canada, Mexico, the
US, Peru, Bolivia,
Colombia, Argentina,
Costa Rica, Nicaragua,
Venezuela, Ecuador,
Guatemala and the host
Panama, are attending
the four-day gathering.
During his opening
speech Wednesday,
Minister of Government
and Justice Daniel
Delgado briefed
participants about the
legal framework for the
Panamanian indigenous
population and the
official entities in
charge of guaranteeing
consolidation of their
territories.
Panama has seven
indigenous ethnic groups
settled in five regions,
but there are still some
groups without
demarcated territory.
Cuban Miguel Alfonso,
who presided over the UN
working group on
indigenous peoples,
mentioned Panama,
Venezuela, Brazil and
Bolivia among the most
concerned for the
indigenous territories'
autonomy.
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