“After 514 years of oppression and domination, we are still here and they have not been able to eliminate to us... A new era begins for the original indigenous peoples, as a time of change is arriving.” In this spirit, came to a conclusion, last October 12th in La Paz, Bolivia, the Continental Meeting of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala, under the title of "From resistance to power”.

The event began October 8th with a thank-you ceremony to the Pachamama, or Mother Earth, by the spiritual guides and a tribute to Che Guevara, who died 39 years ago. It was put on as a joint effort by the Andean Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations and the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations and Farmers of Bolivia (COINCABOL) with the goal of “strengthening the bonds of integration and solidarity between indigenous peoples and nationalities of the Continent,” as a response to the challenge of contributing to “the construction of Multicultural States.”

Most prevalent during the meeting were the frequent calls for unity and the expressions of solidarity with president Evo Morales and the Bolivian process. As Martín Condori, the leader of the National Council of Ayllus and Marcas of the Quillasuyu, remarked in the name of the hosts, “we are here to strengthen the unity of the peoples of Abya Yala, in order to reinforce the principles and values of our ancestors. To escape from the discrimination, the humiliation of the ruling government, we are moving towards unity among the Indigenous and original peoples, so as to build strength, as embodied by our brother, Evo Morales, and which will later emerge in other countries.”

In La Paz, more than a thousand representatives of the original peoples of the continent assembled, who, in working groups, discussed the following issues: sovereignty and governments; international indigenous rights; identity and coexistence; cultures, education and languages; organization and economic perspective; historical, social and ecological debts; youth in the process of change; gender roles in the process of change; strategic alliances; and indigenous communication.

Reconstructing “Good Living”

The final Declaration, which recalls the 514 years of resistance, announces: “our time has come.” It later refers to the declaration of the United Nations concerning the rights of indigenous peoples - base on a constant effort that has been in progress for over 20 years - indicating that, “although it reflects many of our aspirations, it does not completely reflect the right of our peoples to self-determination and, in a way, it actually subjects it to the individual, replacing our vision. In spite of that, we encourage the governments to approve it and to use it as a basis for legislation for indigenous peoples.”

It also demands that the national States recognize that it is the existence of indigenous peoples that has allowed for the preservation of biodiversity and the knowledge associated with it; they there demand guarantee for their existence, “providing them with resources for independent management, and not establishing mechanisms that promote the privatization of our natural resources, traditional and spiritual knowledge.” It also demands that the national States, “recognize plural-nationality, and respect and recognize our own forms of government. For this reason, we urge the re-foundation of the States to achieve coexistence between groups of people, so that exclusion and marginalization cease to exist.”

“We continue strengthening our organizational processes and our struggles until we achieve the construction of unity between the peoples of the Abya Yala, and rebuild “Good Living,” which means living with harmony between people and nature. At the same time we encourage the world to accept and benefit from the values of our cultures,” expresses the document.

In this respect, they echo the call for the 3rd Summit of the Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of the Abya Yala that will take place on March 26-30, 2007 in Mayan territory of Guatemala. At the same time, underlining the necessity of alliances with other oppressed sectors in order to carry out transformations, they express commitment to active participation in the Social Summit for the Integration of Peoples, to be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on December 6-9, 2006.

The indigenous representatives also condemned “the acts of war and the interventions that the United States government is carrying out in many countries of the Americas and the world to protect its own interests,” while, at the same time, expressing their solidarity “with the struggles of all the peoples and the governments who defend their right to self-determination, like Cuba and Venezuela.”

“We have witnessed the serious problems threatening the Bolivian people and government that are caused by the economic power groups that rely on support from the United States. We have also witnessed the efforts that the Bolivian people and government, headed by the Bolivian President Evo Morales, are making to construct a new country and we support this heroic effort. We will always be watchful of what happens in Bolivia and we ask the peoples of the planet to offer their support and solidarity to this process,” they expressed. (1)

Day of liberation

The conclusion of the event occurred in the San Francisco Plaza, in front of a large audience backing President Evo Morales who, in his intervention, emphasized: “we are here for two important reasons. Firstly, because of the date, October 12, today will be historical, it will be a day of memory, but most importantly I would say that today is a day of liberation for our peoples. And secondly, to exchange with our indigenous brothers of all Latin America, and all of America, previously called Abya Yala.”

The president recalled that his trajectory has been marked by the process that “started with the movement, called the campaign of popular and indigenous resistance, that began in the years 1989 to 1991. As a result of this campaign, together with our brothers the farmers, indigenous peoples, colonizers, natives and other groups, including some intellectuals and professionals of Bolivia, we organized ourselves in 1995 to create a political instrument of liberation, a political instrument for the dignity and sovereignty of our peoples.”

"When we completed the campaign of 500 years of indigenous and popular resistance, we said together, from resistance to power, from protest to proposals; and we have organized ourselves and have moved ahead, thanks to the participation of all the social movements... And I realize that it is not only important to engage in a democratic revolution in Bolivia, but also in many countries, in every country, as many social movements continue the struggle for the liberation of peoples in search of equality and justice.”

After evaluating his eight months of administration, Morales highlighted the indigenous character of the Constitutional Assembly and the historical struggle for self-determination of the native peoples, pointing out that this struggle remains an important issue in the United Nations. “One of our tasks is making the United Nations approve the declaration of rights of the indigenous peoples. In the international sphere, they have the obligation to recognize and to approve this declaration of rights for indigenous peoples,” emphasized the president.

(1) The full text of the Declaration of La Paz (in Spanish) is at: http://www.alainet.org/active/13845.

- The original Spanish version of this article was published in América Latina en Movimiento, No: 413, October 31 2006.
http://alainet.org/images/alai413-1006.pdf