Raising awareness, reaffirming rights.

• Author: Trujillo, Amparo

No one would argue that the indigenous peoples of the Americas shouldn't enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all citizens; but neither would anyone claim that the goal has been reached. Gaining full recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples has been a slow process. In the Organization of American States (OAS), negotiations on the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have been going on for seven years, and a similar process in the United Nations has lasted even longer.

This does not mean that the effort has been a waste of time, however, says Ambassador Juan Leon Alvarado, Alternate Representative of the Guatemalan Mission to the OAS. For the last two years, Leon has presided over the working group in charge of the negotiations. "The discussions have generated initiatives," he says, "and they've raised the awareness of societies and governments. I think that's something we have to remember."

Leon, who belongs to the Maya K'iche people of Guatemala, says that the delegations of the thirty-four OAS member countries still do not have a clear vision about what the final content of the declaration should be. "Some believe that we have to invent the rights of indigenous peoples from scratch; others believe that it's not necessary to confer rights; others have the idea that indigenous people don't think and don't have their own values and that therefore we need to make a document that turns them into dependents of the state, in other words to reform the chain of oppression and limitations that already exist to the detriment of indigenous peoples' rights."

Leon believes that the American Declaration should reflect and reaffirm natural rights that should already be in effect and fully practiced and that there is no need to invent anything: "These rights are exercised and have been exercised for thousands of years."

One of the challenges, according to Leon, is to overcome the fear that arises within some governments that the declaration might contradict national and international legislation. Concerns tend to emerge about complex concepts like "self-determination." From the point of view of the indigenous peoples, Leon explains, this concept does not refer to the creation of independent states, but rather the absolute freedom to make decisions about the design, management, and execution of plans, strategies, and programs that have to do with all of their political, economic, and social rights. "If that's how...