IPS-English ARGENTINA: Accord Puts End to Indigenous Hunger Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:23:58 -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 HD CS IN SU=20 ARGENTINA: Accord Puts End to Indigenous Hunger Strike Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (IPS) - After a 32-day hunger strike in the headqua= rters of the provincial government of Chaco, in northeastern Argentina, a= group of indigenous activists reached an agreement Tuesday with governme= nt officials and called off their fast. But they warn that their campaign for their right to land has just begun. =94We are very pleased with this agreement, which was achieved without an= y casualties,=94 said the president of the Chaco Institute for Indigenous= Affairs (IDACH), Orlando Charole, after signing the accord. He added, however, that =94this struggle is a long one, and is just start= ing,=94 and described the agreement as =94merely a truce.=94 =94Governor Roy Nikisch, who didn=B4t want to sign the document, is forew= arned,=94 said Charole in a press conference Tuesday. =94The indigenous p= eople will not flinch at resorting to even stronger direct action tactics= if any of the points agreed on goes unmet.=94 The nine hunger strikers who began to fast on Jul. 21 issued a communiqu=E9= in which they said they were happy that =94the dead letter of the law ha= s been resuscitated today=94 and that =94a new era in the history of the = indigenous nations of the Chaco is beginning.=94 The fasters want to return to their local communities as soon as possible= . However, the doctors who have been attending them recommended that they= remain in observation in the hospital for a few days in Resistencia, the= provincial capital located 700 km north of Buenos Aires.=20 The indigenous activists held their hunger strike in a windowless hearing= room on the fourth floor of the government building, sleeping on the flo= or or on the table and chairs. They were under permanent police custody, = and only left the room to go to the bathroom or visit the central hall to= talk to journalists or social activists. On Aug. 7, one of the strikers was hospitalised, and was advised by the d= octors to drop out of the fast. Two other hunger strikers quit in mid-August as a goodwill gesture when t= he provincial government finally agreed to talks. One of the government officials who played a key role in the talks, provi= ncial Minister Hugo Matkovich, praised the =94willingness to engage in di= alogue=94 that ultimately led to Tuesday's agreement. The minister said =94an effort was made to get down on paper all of the i= ssues of concern to the indigenous people,=94 and a commitment was made =94= to continue working on each of the agreed-on points.=94 With respect to the questions that are most difficult to resolve in the s= hort-term, like complaints of irregular distribution of public land over = the past decade, or demands for the resignation of a mayor accused of dis= criminating against indigenous people, Matkovich admitted that =94where t= here are doubts, it will be the justice system that will decide how to mo= ve forward.=94 According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), t= here are some 400,000 indigenous people in Argentina, belonging to 20 dif= ferent ethnic groups. Chaco, the country's poorest province, is home to 6= 0,000 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. In a conversation with IPS, IDACH lawyer Walter Zanuttini explained that = the authorities agreed to grant a number of plots of land to indigenous c= ommunities and small farmers. In addition, indigenous people obtained a p= romise of title deeds to land that they already live on, as well as an ag= reement to officially register bilingual teachers. A larger budget for IDACH -- an autonomous government agency whose presid= ent is elected by the local indigenous communities -- was also agreed. Through the accord, added to the support that was already promised by the= national government, IDACH will obtain an additional 1.3 million dollars= to go towards farm equipment and inputs for indigenous farmers and build= ing materials for housing in indigenous communities, said Zanuttini. =94People are very satisfied with this. It was the biggest indigenous pro= test in the history of Chaco, and there is a lot of enthusiasm over the r= esult,=94 he added. With regard to the land that has been improperly distributed, estimated a= t more than three million hectares, the lawyer said =94there will be new = developments=94 in the prosecutions based on corruption charges. The conflict began in May, when a group of indigenous people marched to R= esistencia to protest the irregular distribution of public land to privat= e owners, which has been going on for over a decade. Under provincial law, the land was to be granted to indigenous communitie= s or indigenous and non-indigenous small farmers, along with development = aid. But that did not occur. According to the non-governmental Nelson Mandela Studies Centre, the prov= incial Colonisation Institute -- the government agency in charge of distr= ibuting the land in question -- sold it to private interests at ridiculou= sly low prices, and in plots that far exceeded the legal size limits. Som= e of the property was then resold at a profit to large landowners. The communities also protested the government's inadequate financial supp= ort for IDACH, and demanded the resignation of Lorenzo Heffner, mayor of = the town of Villa Bermejito, who faces legal charges of discriminating ag= ainst indigenous residents. But Governor Nikisch, of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) party, refused to = meet with the indigenous representatives on the argument that the conflic= t had been fomented by the national government of centre-left President N= =E9stor Kirchner, who belongs to the Justicialista (Peronist) Party.=20 The indigenous protesters, who numbered up to 1,000 at one point, set up = camp outside the provincial government building. Camp was finally struck = on Tuesday, after the agreement was reached, and the demonstrators prepar= ed to return to their villages after three months away from home. ***** + ARGENTINA: Indigenous Protesters Set to Starve to Death for Land (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D34302) + 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 (http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=3D25072) + ARGENTINA: Indigenous Villages on the Auction Block - June 2005 (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D29235) + DEVELOPMENT-ARGENTINA: The Forgotten North - March 2006 (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32351) + Nelson Mandela Studies Centre - in Spanish (http://www.centromandelacha= co.com.ar). (END/IPS/LA HD IN SU/TRASP-SW/MV/06) =20 =3D 08230051 ORP001 NNNN