Rigoberta Menchú

Rigoberta Menchú: "We will demand an explanation from the UN"

We will demand that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan account for the exclusion of indigenous peoples from the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú told Tierramérica.

JOHANNESBURG - Latin American indigenous leaders issued a warning prior to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which met until Sep 4 in South Africa: the voice of the indigenous will be ignored. Their prediction proved correct.

Ten years ago, at the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, the Latin American indigenous movement made important strides in achieving recognition of their rights That year, the Nobel Peace Prize went to an indigenous leader for the first time: Rigoberta Menchú. The Indigenous Peoples Decade was declared and the United Nations created a permanent forum on indigenous peoples.

In contrast, during the Rio+10 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was to serve as a follow-up on the Rio agreements, indigenous groups were scarcely present, had limited influence on the negotiations, and were ignored by the media.

Rigoberta Menchú spoke with Tierramérica about the matter in an exclusive interview.

What is your final assessment of the Johannesburg Summit?
There was a lack of integral political leadership that could carry forward the goals. All humanity was waiting for them. The collapse of the financial system and the environmental system does not affect just one sector, but the entire planet. Never before had we seen, for example, Germany as a victim of natural disasters like the massive floods of August. That catastrophe proved that the fate of the (industrialized) North and the (developing) South are intertwined, given that it is no longer the poor people on the hillside who are the only victims of climate change.

Where were the indigenous peoples? The UN's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was noticeably absent at the Summit.
The UN has a big debt with the indigenous peoples, and failing to invite the Forum makes me indignant. But not inviting indigenous representatives in general is almost a tradition at international meetings. In this case there was no official space for an indigenous entity that is a member of the UN and is the body through which Indians would pass to become part of the family. This question must be put before the UN Secretary-General (Kofi Annan), and we are going to demand an explanation.

Is the UN showing an interest in the problems that Indians face?
Nothing that the indigenous peoples have achieved has been a handout from anyone, not from governments, not from the UN. The UN just gave us authorization to enter its corridors, but the matters that it could have facilitated for us have suffered setbacks again and again. More than anything, there is a great deafness, a great inequality in relations and a long list of unkept promises.

Some experts criticized the vagueness of paragraphs 26 and 27 of the Summit's Final Declaration about the protection of the rights of native groups.
These declarations do not fulfill themselves on their own; they are just a beginning that paves the way. A long time will pass before they are translated into reality, but if they didn't exist the situation would be even worse.

What is needed in order for things to change?
We need leaders who are more complete, more tenacious, with the moral authority to tell big companies stop ruining the environment, stop profiting at the cost of the planet's and humanity's health. At the 1992 Rio Summit, the most encouraging pact was between civil society and the governments. Now, no progress can be made if we do not sit down with non-governmental organizations, private corporations and the governments.

* María Laura Mazza is an IPS correspondent.