American Indians and international indigenous peoples
November 3rd, 2009
An Alaskan newspaper reports that American Native groups are looking for support from international partners.
Tribal Chief Gary Harrison of Chickaloon and other tribal leaders had a chance to meet with Venezuela’s ambassador to the United States last week in Anchorage.
Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera used his brief visit to Alaska to announce that his country will renew its free home heating fuel program for 2009-2010, and to talk about the strengthened position of indigenous peoples in South American governments. Alaska, rich in oil resources and native peoples, has more in common with Venezuela than any other state, stated a press release issued in advance of the trip.
Speaking at the University of Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Alvarez told audience members it is time to move away from democracy of the elite to a form of democracy that is representative as well as participatory. Its aim, he said, should be to correct inequality and fight social exclusion. World leaders must adjust their vision to a new reality, Alvarez said; indigenous people may be a threat to governments that wish to dominate, but they are no threat to governments that are genuinely interested in finding a new way of dealing with problems.
Alvarez offered two examples. In Bolivia, everyone — regardless of race — is required to learn one of 26 native languages. Education and support are offered to ensure every resident fulfills their obligation to learn one of the languages, he said. And in Venezuela, native Venezuelans have a constitutionally-guaranteed right to select their own members, via their own rules, for representation on the national assembly — Venezuela’s single-chamber congress. The arrangement, Alvarez said, ensures political voice.
Alvarez also noted that his country has made a concerted effort to ensure part of that nation’s oil wealth goes directly to fight poverty — to provide access to food, education and health care. What would happen, he asked, if oil companies across the world used a portion of their profits to fight poverty worldwide?
