Latin American natives protest Spanish conquest's 'genocide'

Mon Oct 12, 2009

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – Tens of thousands of indigenous people took to the
streets across Latin America on Monday to protest the anniversary of
Christopher Columbus's 1492 discovery of the Americas.

Columbus Day is celebrated as the Day of Hispanic Heritage in Latin
America, but protesters marked the holiday as a reminder of the atrocities
Spanish conquistadors wrought on indigenous people throughout the region.

In Guatemala City, 19-year-old demonstrator Imer Boror was killed and two
were wounded as Maya Indians blocked entry points into the capital to
protest their government's mining policies.

Protesters were marching on what they called the Day of Dignity and
Resistance of the Indian People, protest leader Juana Mulul told AFP,
saying the movement "is purely in defense of Mother Earth and our
territory."

In a gesture toward reconciliation with indigenous groups, a special
roundtable appointed by President Alvaro Colom after the incident was to
meet with 14 poor farmers late Monday to discuss their demands.

Aparicio Perez of the Farmers Union Committee (CUC) said representatives
would ask the government to annul mining, hydroelectric and cement
concessions because "multinational companies are taking over natural
resources, which have long been the source of life for rural families."

According to government statistics, 42 percent of Guatemala's 12 million
inhabitants are Indians, although some groups put the figure at over 60
percent.

In southwestern Colombia, some 25,000 people set out from several towns
and cities in Valle del Cauca department to protest President Alvaro
Uribe's environmental policies and his alleged broken promises to their
communities.

They planned to join up Friday in a larger demonstration of some 40,000 in
the department's capital of Cali.

"We're demonstrating against the degradation of the planet... against
President Alvaro Uribe's neglect" of indigenous communities, National
Indigenous Organization of Colombia member Feliciano Valencia told
reporters.

Indigenous people, who represent three percent of Colombia's 45 million
inhabitants, accuse the conservative Uribe administration of failing to
enact social programs and release state funds it promised indigenous
communities when it came to power in 2002.

They also protested being regular targets of guerrilla, paramilitary and
drug trafficking violence, despite their professed neutrality in the
country's ongoing internal conflicts.

During an extraordinary session held at the National Pantheon, the
Venezuelan National Assembly passed a bill proposing a "Day of Indigenous
Resistance" to be held throughout South America.

National Assembly Speaker Cilia Flores hailed the event as proof lawmakers
were "working with all the people and with a revolutionary government to
build a new nation."

At the National Pantheon, where the remains of Venezuelan heroes are
buried, dozens of indigenous representatives gathered in a demonstration
organized by the ruling Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to protest the
"genocide of the (Spanish) empire" 500 years ago.

A group of indigenous people kept the Panama-Costa Rica border closed for
several hours in the morning at the Sixaola border crossing and later
protested in front of the Spanish embassy.

Several thousand native activists were joined by environmentalists,
farmers and students for protests across Panama demanding respect for
their land rights and rejecting energy projects that "do not respect the
autonomy of indigenous people" and cause "forced evictions."

"The arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas in 1492 brought about the
destruction of the Indian way of life and broke a series of political and
economic institutions that has since driven us into poverty," said Cecilio
Guerra before burning a Spanish flag close to the presidential palace.

According to Guerra, over 21 hydroelectric concessions and nine mining
projects are affecting indigenous communities.