IPS-English ARGENTINA: Indigenous Protesters Set to Starve to Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:58:09 -0700 X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (borg.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61] X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61 X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST ROMAIPS LA DV HD IP CS IN=20 ARGENTINA: Indigenous Protesters Set to Starve to Death for Land Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Aug 10 (IPS) - A group of indigenous people in the Argentin= e province of Chaco have been on a hunger strike for 21 days, in the prov= incial capitol building. They are in a windowless hearing room furnished = only with a table and eight chairs, with the electric lights switched on = day and night, and surrounded by police. =94Imagine what it's like for us, accustomed as we are to our forests and= rivers, to be cooped up here like prisoners, escorted by guards even to = the bathroom, sleeping on chairs or on the floor, and without being able = to see our families,=94 Ricardo Sandoval, one of the hunger strikers, tol= d IPS, clearly agitated from the effort of talking on the phone. On Wednesday night, two of the 12 strikers stopped fasting, =94as a sign = of goodwill,=94 said the national Secretary of Lands for Social Habitat, = Luis D'El=EDa. That decision was reached after a day-long meeting between= D'El=EDa, provincial government minister Hugo Matkovich, and several oth= er officials. =94Significant progress was made,=94 and =94in a good climate,=94 said D'= El=EDa. The national government offered three million pesos (one million dollars)= - two million for the Chaco Institute for Indigenous Affairs and one mil= lion for indigenous small farmers. The rest of the protesters' demands ar= e still in negotiation, but there are finally prospects for an agreement. One of the two who dropped out of the hunger strike, Patricia Avalos, sai= d that before she ate, she wanted to see her children. =94I will be happy= when I see that what I did paved the way for a better future for them,=94= she said. Indigenous people in the northeastern province of Chaco have been involve= d in a longstanding conflict over irregularities in the distribution of g= overnment-owned lands, and other allegations. The crisis had come to a he= ad over the last few weeks because the government had refused to continue= investigating their complaints, and the indigenous people stepped up the= ir protests. During the first few days, the police would not let the hunger strikers, = who included four women, leave the hearing room to use the bathroom. Lawy= ers from the National Institute for Indigenous Affairs (INAI) told IPS th= at at that point they obtained a court order to prevent this. The court r= uled that no crime had been committed since the protesters had entered th= e building peacefully, and thus prohibited their confinement. However, only indigenous leaders and reporters are allowed access to the = hunger strikers. =94Those of us here are all Toba (Indians), but we're doing this on behal= f of 60,000 indigenous people from all over the province,=94 Eliseo L=F3p= ez, another striker, told IPS between bouts of nausea and dizziness.=20 L=F3pez has four children who are with his wife, 400 kilometres from Resi= stencia, the provincial capital, where the activists are fasting. Dr. Oscar Ar=E9valo of the Chaco Medical Association examined the protest= ers this week and said their condition was =94deplorable.=94 =94These peo= ple were basically undernourished and suffer from chronic anaemia and par= asite infestation, and to add insult to injury they have not eaten, and t= hey are confined here in uncomfortable conditions. Some of them cannot ev= en stand up any longer,=94 he added. =94Their health has deteriorated drastically and their physical resistanc= e will reach its limits towards the end of this week,=94 the doctor predi= cted. On Tuesday, Ceferino P=E9rez, one of the older strikers, was hospit= alised, and the decision was made that he could not continue fasting. Aft= er two others dropped out of the fast on Wednesday, the total number of h= unger strikers shrunk to nine. =94We don't trust the provincial government any more, so our last hope is= that the national government will listen to us before one or more of us = die,=94 Sandoval told IPS. The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) reports that th= ere are some 400,000 indigenous people in Argentina, belonging to 20 diff= erent ethnic groups. Chaco, the country's poorest province, is home to 60= ,000 Toba, Mocov=ED and Wich=ED Indians. =20 While the national poverty rate was 40 percent in 2005, it stood at 65 pe= rcent in Chaco. And it is indigenous people who bear the brunt of poverty= , according to social organisations. The hunger strikers have unsuccessfully demanded that Governor Roy Nikisc= h meet with them and respond to their complaints of improper distribution= of public land over the last decade. By law, the land should have gone t= o indigenous communities and small farmers, but instead it has ended up i= n the hands of large landowners.=20 They are also demanding the resignation of the mayor of the town of Villa= Bermejito, who they accuse of discriminating against indigenous people. = The mayor, Lorenzo Heffner, is facing prosecution for misappropriation of= state funds, and this month a public prosecutor brought charges against = him for discrimination as well. Governor Nikisch, who belongs to the Radical Civic Union (UCR), has accus= ed President N=E9stor Kirchner of the Justicialista (Peronist) Party of f= omenting the protests by indigenous people through the Secretariat of Lan= ds for Social Habitat, headed by D'El=EDa. D'El=EDa is the leader of one of the largest =94piquetero=94 organisation= s making up the movement of the unemployed. The groups are known for thei= r strategy of holding roadblocks (=94piquetes=94) to draw attention to th= eir plight. A week ago, on a visit to Chaco, D'El=EDa said =94the governor should add= ress the indigenous movement's demands for the return of land that was st= olen from them and from poor campesinos (peasant farmers) during the term= of former governor =C1ngel Rozas (also of the UCR), and given to politic= ally and economically powerful friends.=94 The hunger strike began on Jul. 21 after a month-long dialogue between th= e provincial government and indigenous leaders. When the authorities came= up with a proposal that failed to satisfy the communities' demands, the = group who had gone to the provincial capitol building to listen to their = proposals decided to stay in the hearing room and begin to fast. =94The situation is dire, because we have an autistic and intolerant gove= rnment,=94 Walter Zanuttini, a lawyer at the Chaco Institute for Indigeno= us Affairs, told IPS. The institute, which has traditionally been headed = by a non-indigenous government official, has since 2005 had an indigenous= director, Orlando Charole, who represents the interests of the communiti= es. Charole had been pressing the authorities since May to engage in talks wi= th a delegation of indigenous leaders. In June, thousands of indigenous p= rotesters decided to march to Resistencia from all over Chaco, and to set= up camp in front of the government building until they were granted a he= aring. On Jun. 10 the provincial government agreed to hold talks, and promised t= o respond to the communities' grievances. But the government's response, = which did not come until Jul. 21, disappointed the demonstrators. =94They offered us two vehicles, 45 job positions and a flow chart for th= e Institute for Indigenous Affairs, when we had asked for a budget increa= se (for the Institute),=94 Zanuttini said. =94The land issue wasn't even = touched on, in spite of all our reports of irregularities.=94 According to the non-governmental Nelson Mandela Study Centre, in 1995 th= ere were 3.9 million hectares of government land in Chaco, of which there= are only 660,000 hectares left. But the indigenous communities, who by l= aw were supposed to be the main beneficiaries, were left out when the tim= e came to distribute the land. The hunger strikers are also demanding an audit of the provincial Colonis= ation Institute, which is in control of the government-owned land, and an= investigation into the distribution of the property. The government admitted that there now remain only 660,000 hectares of pu= blic land, and ordered a six-month moratorium on new land concessions. Bu= t according to Zanuttini, provincial authorities refuse to investigate wh= at happened to millions of hectares of land that have already been distri= buted. =94The Colonisation Institute was selling land to its cronies at absurdly= low prices, and six months later the beneficiaries would sell them at ma= rket price to large landholders,=94 the lawyer said. =94We estimate that = the deals involved 700 million pesos (235 million dollars), and the provi= ncial comptroller's office has now begun an investigation,=94 he added. Zanuttini maintained that the provincial government is dragging its feet = over launching an investigation that could trigger a major scandal. =94Th= is is a time bomb, because if they agree to move forward with this inquir= y, a decade of corruption will come to light, and heads will roll within = the present and former governments,=94 he stated. Meanwhile, the nine remaining hunger strikers are growing weaker and weak= er, just a few paces from the governor's office. ***** + ARGENTINA: Indigenous People Camp Out in Plaza to Demand Land Rights (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33582) + RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Kolla Indians Denounce Abuses in Land Conflict - Augu= st 2004 (www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=3D25072) + ARGENTINA: Hunger Is a Crime in this Food-Rich Country, Say Child Activ= ists - July 2005 (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D29310) + CHILE: Mapuche Prisoners on Verge of Starving to Death for Cause (http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=3D33182) + Centro de Estudios Nelson Mandela - in Spanish (http://www.centromandel= achaco.com.ar) (END/IPS/LA HD IP IN CS DV/TRASP-VD-SW/MV-AC/DM/06) =20 =3D 08101821 ORP008 NNNN