PARAGUAY: Indigenous Minister - First Casualty of Lugo Cabinet

• by Natalia Ruiz Díaz (asuncion)
• Monday, December 22, 2008
• Inter Press Service

The decision to remove her raised questions as to whether the president, a former Catholic bishop, has a clearly-defined policy for indigenous people, who were a main focus of his campaign.

Margarita Mbywangi, an Aché chief, was removed as president of the Paraguayan Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INDI). The recent announcement caused a stir among indigenous leaders and public opinion.

Mbywangi was named minister on Aug. 18, three days after Lugo took office. She was the first indigenous person to head INDI since its creation in 1981.

Although she was accepted by non-indigenous sectors, leaders of different native groups protested against her designation, questioning her representativeness and credentials for the position.

Mbywangi was the chief of the Kuêtuvy community in the northern department (province) of Canindeyú, and presided over the Aché Association of Paraguay, made up of seven villages that are home to 1,200 indigenous people.

The protests against her grew in the last few weeks, and the tension mounted.

Early this month, a group of Guaraní Indians from Fortuna, a poor settlement outside of the city of Curuguaty, also in the department of Canindeyú, held a protest in the capital calling for her removal.

The Guaraní Indians accused her of imposing a new leader in Fortuna, and demanded respect for the community’s autonomy.

In response to the accusations, Mbywangi complained of political manipulations by members of the Colorado Party, which governed the country for 60 years, until Lugo’s victory.

'We saw this coming, because things were not done as they should have been,' Hipólito Acevei, a member of the Coordinator for the Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples (CAPI), which groups 15 native organisations, told IPS.

He said CAPI had not opposed the designation of Mbywangi which, he underlined, was solely Lugo’s responsibility. In his view, the conflict that led to her removal was the result of a failure to previously consult the country’s indigenous communities.

'The executive branch must establish clear rules and design public policies that effectively address the needs of our communities,' he said.

Access to land, technical assistance for raising crops, health care and education are the main demands of Paraguay’s indigenous people.

According to the 2008 census on indigenous people, there are 108,000 members of native communities in Paraguay, or 1.7 percent of the population. However, the overwhelming majority of Paraguay’s 6.7 million inhabitants are 'mestizos' or people of mixed European (principally Spanish) and indigenous (mainly Guaraní) descent.

The country’s native inhabitants live in extreme poverty. Only 12 percent have health insurance, and 39 percent of indigenous people over 15 are illiterate, compared to 5.4 percent of the general population.

Several indigenous people ran for elected office in the Apr. 20 elections, backed by traditional parties as well as left-wing movements, especially in the western departments.

The highest-profile native candidate was Margarita Mbywangi, who ran for the Senate, representing the socialist Tekojoja Movement.

When she failed to win enough votes to make it to parliament, Lugo named her head of INDI.

But although the need to address the pressing problems facing the country’s indigenous communities was a central focus of the campaign, Mbywangi was, curiously, one of the last to be designated.

'President Lugo’s encouraging words spoke of change for indigenous peoples, but it is his officials who must make those words a reality,' said Acevei.

He said stronger action was expected from the government, especially with respect to development programmes and in terms of helping indigenous people reclaim their land.

Law 904, which governs the return of land to indigenous communities, has not turned out to be an effective instrument when it comes to guaranteeing access by indigenous groups to their traditional territories.

In 2005 and 2006, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights handed down two rulings against the Paraguayan state, ordering it to adopt measures to effectively restore indigenous communities’ land.

'The conflict has taken root, and the solution must be a structural one. It is not a question of whether or not INDI is headed by an indigenous person,' said Acevei.

The government will call together the country’s tribal chiefs, as a first step towards the appointment of the new head of INDI.

Reaching a consensus among the country’s 17 native groups is a new challenge faced by Lugo.

© Inter Press Service (2008) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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