IPS-English ARGENTINA: Indigenous People Camp Out in Plaza to Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:51:47 -0700 ROMAIPS LA DV HD IF IP PR CS CV IN=20 ARGENTINA: Indigenous People Camp Out in Plaza to Demand Land Rights Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Jun 12 (IPS) - =94We have endured 500 years of plunder, hum= iliation, eviction and massacres; why wouldn't we be able to bear a littl= e cold and hunger now?=94 Orlando Charole, one of the leaders of a group = of indigenous people who have been pursuing their land claims in the nort= heastern Argentine province of Chaco for the past month, asked IPS. Thousands of indigenous people are camping out in front of the provincial= government building in Resistencia, the capital of Chaco, 700 km north o= f Buenos Aires, and blocking the adjacent streets. Charole, the president= of the governmental Chaco Institute for Indigenous Communities (IDACH), = is leading the protest. The demonstrators are demanding that the governor of Chaco, Roy Nikisch, = meet with them and respond to their charges about irregular sales of publ= ic land to large farmers and agribusiness interests, which they claim hav= e been taking place for a decade, instead of transferring the land to ind= igenous communities and other poor farmers, as stipulated in the provinci= al constitution. To support these demands, more than 3,000 indigenous people from the rura= l areas marched to Resistencia. When they were not received by Nikisch, t= hey decided on Jun. 6 to remain outside the headquarters of the provincia= l government. Nikisch refused to see them and on Jun. 9 filed charges accusing them of = obstructing access to his office by government officials.=20 An improvised camp sprang up on Plaza 25 de Mayo, right across from the g= overnment house, where the indigenous protesters also blocked traffic in = nearby streets. =94They are staying there in subhuman conditions. Some pe= ople are sick and have undernourished children with them,=94 said Rolando= N=FA=F1ez, of the Nelson Mandela Research Centre in Chaco. N=FA=F1ez told IPS that no one from the Ministry of Public Health had sho= wn up to assess the sanitary conditions of the protestors, all of whom li= ve in poverty. =94We went there with volunteer doctors, because many peop= le are under stress and have headaches, and there are children with respi= ratory problems because of the cold (of the southern hemisphere winter),=94= he explained. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census, there are a= round 20 indigenous groups in Argentina totalling approximately 400,000 p= eople, 56 percent of whom belong to the Mapuche, Kolla, Toba or Wich=ED c= ommunities. Close to 60,000 Toba, Mocov=ED and Wich=ED people live in Cha= co. The movement received backing on Jun. 9 from social organisations, trade = unions and human rights groups in the province. Together they agreed to h= old a province-wide day of protests on Jun. 14, centred on the indigenous= people's demands and a call for greater openness to dialogue on the part= of the provincial government. =94We will camp here indefinitely and, if necessary, we will take stronge= r measures,=94 Charole said. Charole was elected in 2005 to head up the government institute that repr= esents indigenous peoples in the province. But instead of following in th= e footsteps of his predecessors and becoming just another government offi= cial, he has sided with the people he represents and is at the forefront = of their land claims. The protest started over a month ago, as a result of the impact of floodi= ng on communities living on the edge of a jungle region known as =94El Im= penetrable=94. Indigenous people there accused the mayor of Villa R=EDo B= ermejito, Lorenzo Heffner, of withholding food aid sent to them by the na= tional government.=20 Local indigenous people, who urgently needed the food aid, discovered a w= arehouse full of perishable foods, 300 metres away from the town hall, wh= ich could have been distributed days earlier. On May 1 they removed these= goods and piled them in front of the town hall in order to draw public a= ttention to the misuse of the intended aid for political ends. The indigenous campesino families then began a protest calling for Heffne= r to resign. The mayor has also been accused of discriminatory attitudes = towards indigenous communities, and is involved in a federal trial on cha= rges of fraud against the national social security organisation. =94My government welcomes participation by everybody who works,=94 was He= ffner's reply to the accusations. And he added: =94If I loosen my grip, t= here will be a general contagion in every municipality in Chaco, and the = whole province will be in chaos.=94 The prediction promptly came true, ev= en though the mayor did not =94loosen his grip.=94 In mid-March, communities in other parts of the province started blocking= roads, in solidarity with the indigenous people of Villa R=EDo Bermejito= , but bringing new demands to the movement. They complained that for a de= cade there has been fraudulent handling of state lands that are rightfull= y theirs. In an interview with IPS, N=FA=F1ez explained that out of 3.9 million hec= tares of public land that existed in the Chaco in 1995, only 660,000 hect= ares have not been handed out. But indigenous people, who should have bee= n the main beneficiaries under the law, were excluded from the generous d= istribution of land. The law states that publicly-owned lands should be transferred to indigen= ous people or campesinos (small farmers) in family-sized plots =FB betwee= n 650 and 1,200 hectares, according to whether they are intended for crop= s or for livestock =FB together with technical and other assistance to en= courage the start of productive activity. But =94None of that happened,=94 N=FA=F1ez said. Land belonging to indige= nous reserves was instead transferred to private hands, and areas of up t= o 10,000 hectares were allotted to single beneficiaries, mainly large pro= ducers owning land in other provinces, as the activist's organisation has= proved. Some land was transferred to small farmers, but without the fina= ncial aid packages that were to accompany it. =94After a short time, the small producers, strapped for capital, sold th= eir land to larger landowners,=94 N=FA=F1ez commented. All this irregular= dealing led to a massive concentration of land in very few hands. According to the Nelson Mandela Research Centre, just seven percent of la= ndowners hold 70 percent of the productive land in Chaco. The body in charge of administering the land is the Institute of Colonisa= tion, which has a permanent management staff and a board of directors tha= t is renewed with every change of government. The Research Centre accused= the institute of operating as =94a rural real estate business,=94 and sa= id that its administrators are growing rich as a result of the land sales= =2E Thus, the demands of the indigenous people are no longer limited to the r= esignation of the mayor of Villa R=EDo Bermejito, but now include an audi= t of the Institute of Colonisation, a freeze on public land distribution,= an inventory of the land that has and has not been distributed, and the = annulment of irregular land transfers.=20 The Nikisch administration has agreed to suspend land distribution for 18= 0 days, and acknowledged that the state still owns 680,000 hectares, a fi= gure only a little higher than the estimate given by the Research Centre.= But Nikisch has not agreed to a meeting with the indigenous community de= legates. So the protestors are still camping out, and the tension is risi= ng. Their demands are supported by the Argentine Agrarian Federation, which l= inks small and medium farmers throughout the country, and other social, r= eligious, labour and human rights organisations in Chaco. Several nationa= l legislators and officials have also given the movement their backing.=20 The demonstrators insist that they will remain in the plaza in the centre= of the provincial capital, even though they have insufficient food and s= helter and no sanitary facilities, convinced that they have right on thei= r side. =94They complain that we are blocking the streets, but haven't we= the right to demand what is ours?=94 Charole asked. ***** + ARGENTINA: Kolla Indians Fight to Protect Their Land (http://www.ipsnew= s.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33538) + RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Indigenous People - Victims of Violence and Neglect (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33472) + HEALTH-ARGENTINA: Women's Care Blossoms at the Desert's Edge (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33523) + HEALTH: Northwestern Argentina - a =94Paradise=94 Only for the Tourists (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33456) + DEVELOPMENT-ARGENTINA: The Forgotten North (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32351) + ARGENTINA: Indigenous Villages on the Auction Block - June 2005 (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D29235) + Centro de Estudios Nelson Mandela Research Centre =FB in Spanish (http:= //www.centromandelachaco.com.ar) + ARGENTINA: Fair Prices for Indigenous Crafts (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33346) (END/IPS/LA IP IF PR HD IN CV CS DV/TRASP-VD-SW/MV/DM/06) =20 =3D 06122059 ORP009 NNNN