Title: COLOMBIA/PANAMA: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ACCUSE GOVERNMENTS OF NEGLECT
panama city, aug 31 (ips) - leaders of the dule-kuna indigenous
tribes, living near the panama-colombia border, on tuesday
accused the governments of these nations of inaction and neglect.
the charges came during a meeting between representatives of
colombia's antioquia indigenous organisation and panama's general
congress of kuna people, who consider themselves part of the dule
culture which dominated the region before the european arrival.
abadio green, president of the antioquian delegation, said the
region's indigenous people have been abandonded ''due to
negligence by the governments.''
he questioned why the government and parliament of panama have
not acted on a proposal to create the kuna-yala reserve, in an
area where some 30,000 indigenous people live.
the kunas do have a reserve in the caribbean san blas islands,
near the colombian border. they were granted autonomy over the
area in 1935, following an armed uprising led by legendary chiefs
colman and nele kantule.
green also criticised the colombian government for not
responding to indigenous land claims in the vast antioquia
region.
''many of the dule-kuna have threatened to leave colombia
because we have not received responses that positively reflect
the reality of our people,'' green said.
meanwhile, arturo gonzalez, commissioner of panama's general
congress of kuna people, criticised panamanian president
guillermo endara for not having signed international treaties
protecting indigenous territory, including the international
labour organization's (ilo) convention 169.
gonzalez said the panamanian government has not signed the
convention ''because it is afraid of wealthy land owners'' who
have interests in indigenous territory.
marcial arias, president of the non-governmental organisation
'kunas united for nabguana,' told ips that although a law exists
giving kuna people land rights, parliament's inaction in granting
autonomy to the kuna and embera peoples has caused conflicts in
the alto bayano region.
some 5,000 indigenous kunas and emberas are demanding autonomy
over 400,000 hectares of forest located in the alto bayano region
in the province of panama, 150 kilometers west of the capital.
panamanian squatters and the wood cutting industry also have
interest in the land. (more/ips)
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arias said the kuna and embera leadership have given
parliament until sep. 15 to begin debate on the law giving
autonomy to their tribes.
arias added that if congress does not respond by the deadline,
''we will return to the methods of struggle,'' which in april and
may resulted in conflicts between police and indigenous people in
alto bayano.
the indigenous leader said that blockades of of bridges and
the pan-american highway have already been planned, as well as
solidarity measures in other indigenous territories.
during the meeting, the indigenous leaders called for ''the
search for unity and strength by the kunas that inhabit the two
countries,'' and the struggle for ''identity and tradition.''
(end/ips/trd-so/sh/cs/js/eli/93)
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