Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:52:24 -0600
From: CIEPAC <ciepac-AT-laneta.apc.org>
Subject: AUT: [Ciepac-i] English Chiapas al Dia 389      I



“Chiapas Today” Bulletin No. 389
CIEPAC; CHIAPAS, MÉXICO
January 13, 2004

Declarations of the Indigenous Peoples

In the past months diverse gatherings around social struggle and resistance 
have been carried out which have resulted in analysis, the forming of 
political positions and action plans for diverse sectors.  Given their 
importance and to avoid leaving them in the realm of the forgotten and 
because they give orientation to positions standing before the year 2004, 
we hereby reproduce the declarations of the primarily indigenous 
gatherings.  The first is a global position of the indigenous peoples and 
the second is the result of a gathering between the indigenous peoples of 
Chiapas and those of Ixcan, Guatemala, regarding the consequences of the 
free trade agreements.  In the context of the EZLN’s 20-10 Anniversary, the 
Monterrey Conference, the Third Hemispheric Meeting Against the FTAA, The 
World Social Forum, the Davos Economic Forum and the processes of free 
trade beginning in this month of January, it seems to us opportune to 
reproduce these reflections of the indigenous peoples.


THE INTERNATIONAL CANCUN DECLARATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

5th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO)  Cancun, 
Quintana Roo, Mexico, September 12th, 2003.

We, the international representatives of Indigenous Peoples, reunited here 
during the Fifth Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico, from the 10th to 
the 14th of September, 2003, want to give our thanks to the Indigenous 
Peoples of Mexico, in particular the Indigenous Mayan People of Quintana 
Roo, for welcoming us.  We share the concerns of our Mexican indigenous 
brothers and sisters, as expressed in the Cancun Declaration of the 
National Indigenous Congress (CNI).  We add our voices to this 
International Declaration to those of the CNI, and to their conclusions and 
recommendations.

We want to give special recognition and honour to our Korean brother, Mr. 
Lee-Kyung-Hae for his sacrifice carried out here in Cancun.  His act of 
self-immolation was an expression of cultural dignity which deeply reflects 
the daily reality of campesinos, peasants and the Indigenous peoples 
throughout the world, and the results of globalization and the free 
market.  We have come to Cancun to direct ourselves to the critical themes 
and the negative impacts of the WTO on our families, communities and nations.

With the creation of the WTO and the continual imposition of structural 
adjustment policies by the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary 
Fund (IMF), our situation as Indigenous Peoples gets worse and worse.  They 
have given more rights and privileges to companies at the expense of our 
rights.  Our right to self-determination  to decide freely our political 
condition and to freely pursue our own economic, social and cultural 
development and rights over our territories and resources, our indigenous 
knowledge, culture and identities  are brusquely violated.  Some of the 
main examples of these negative impacts for our people, derived from the 
WTO’s accords, are the following:

·       The loss of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Mexican 
indigenous campesino corn producers, due to the dumping of corn at 
artificially low prices, corn that has been strongly subsidized by the 
U.S.; and, in the mountainous regions of the Philippines, the loss of 
sustenance for dozens of thousands of vegetable growers also owing to the 
dumping of vegetables.  The contamination of traditional Mexican indigenous 
corn by genetically-modified corn constitutes a serious problem for 
Indigenous Peoples.  All of this is due to the liberalization of the 
agricultural market and the deregulation of laws that protect the domestic 
producers and harvests of the country, imposed by the Agreement on 
Agriculture (AOA).  The policies of structural adjustment  imposed by the 
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are based on liberalization, 
privatization and deregulation.  The strong subsidies for exports and the 
internal assistance granted to wealthy agri-businesses and rich farmers in 
the U.S. and the European Union (E.U.) have also made these problems possible.
·       The growing impoverishment of indigenous and tribal coffee 
producers in the high summits of Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, Vietnam, etc. 
due to the fall in the commodity prices for this product.
·       Conflicts that are increasingly frequent provoked by confrontation 
between transnational mine, gas and petroleum companies and the Indigenous 
Peoples of the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, India, Ecuador, 
Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Nigeria, Chad-Cameroon, the U.S. and Russia 
among others, and the militarization and environmental devastation of these 
communities owing to the operations of these extractive industries. The 
facilitation of the entry of such corporations are made possible because of 
liberalization of investment laws pushed by the Trade-Related Investment 
Measures (TRIMS) Agreement and the World Bank’s and the International 
Monetary Fund’s conditions,  regional trade agreements like NAFTA and 
bilateral investment agreements.
·       The militarization of the lands and territories of Indigenous 
Peoples and the many cases of murders, arrests and the arbitrary detentions 
of activists, indigenous leaders and the people who support them, as well 
as the criminalization of resistance of First Nations  all of which are 
significantly on the rise.
·       The increase of development infrastructure, particularly 
hydro-electric dams, pipelines, gas-lines, highways through Indigenous 
Peoples’ territory, in order to give support to the extractive industry 
operations, logging companies and exportation processing zones.  The 
development of infrastructure in the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), for example, 
is destroying the sacred and ceremonial sites of Indigenous Peoples in six 
states in southern Mexico and in Guatemala.
·       The patenting of the medicinal plants and seeds that feed and 
employ First Nations, such as the quinoa, ayahuasca, Mexican yellow bean, 
maca, sangre de grado, hoodia, the yew tree, etc..  This biopiracy and the 
patenting of life forms is facilitated by the agreement on Trade-Related 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
·       The large increase in the price of pharmaceutical products and the 
inaccessibility of inexpensive medicines for the treatment of tuberculosis, 
malaria and AIDS which are the diseases of the Indigenous Peoples’ 
communities, and the decreasing health care services in these communities.
·       The privatization of basic public services such as water and 
electrical energy in some countries has provoked general strikes and 
massive protests led by the Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia.  The General 
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which has such wide application as 
to include environmental services (sanitation, environmental protection, 
landscape protection,…), financial services and tourism among others, opens 
the door to this situation.
·       The deterioration of international agreements, national 
constitutions and laws, and the norms which protect our rights.

All of these events are alarming.  This global situation has deteriorated 
the self-sufficient economies of the Indigenous Peoples, producing food 
insecurity, deep poverty and the loss of their lands, culture and 
identity.  We, the representatives of the Indigenous Peoples present in 
Cancun during the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO, ask the 
following of our governments:

1.      The recognition and protection of our territory and of the rights 
over resources, and our right to self-determination.  The framework of 
human rights should be the basis of policies and programs related to trade, 
investment, development and measures against poverty.  The standards of 
investment liberalization such as found in the TRIPS accord, the 
impositions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which 
require countries to liberalize their investment laws, the regional trade 
agreements and the bilateral investment agreements which give greater 
protection and rights to companies than to Indigenous Peoples, must 
change.  Many of the existing measures facilitate the displacement of 
Indigenous Peoples and the appropriation of our lands, water, resources and 
knowledge.  The Indigenous Peoples who were displaced from their lands 
through militarization, by the development of infrastructure for extractive 
industries, by the creation of zones for export processing and other 
“development” schemes, should be returned to their place of origin or be 
fairly compensated.  International standards regarding human rights and the 
environment should be upheld by the governments and be the guide for trade 
agreements formulated and applied by governments.  The free and informed 
consent of Indigenous Peoples should be obtained before beginning any 
project in their communities.  Articles 8j and 10c of the Convention on 
Biodiversity, which protects traditional knowledge and the systems and 
practice of land use and ownership should be the framework of WTO 
agreements. Governments should support the immediate adoption of the UN 
Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that will help ensure 
the recognition and protection of our rights.

2.      Cease the patenting of life forms and whatever other type of right 
to intellectual property related to biological resources and Indigenous 
knowledge.  Guarantee that we, the Indigenous Peoples, retain our rights to 
have control over our seeds, medicinal plants and Indigenous knowledge.  We 
are calling for an explicit declaration prohibiting the patenting of life 
forms in the TRIPS accord.  In this same way, we demand the annulment of 
the patent rights, the application of patents and the claims of the 
companies, people or governments regarding patents related to medicinal 
plants, seeds and knowledge, including those related to the human genetic 
materials of Indigenous Peoples.  Biopiracy must be stopped and, before 
having access to the resources of Indigenous Peoples, one must have the 
prior, free and informed consent from the Indigenous Peoples.  The theme of 
protecting first peoples’ knowledge should not be dealt with by the TRIPS 
accord of the WTO because its base contradicts the concepts, values and 
ethics of indigenous systems of knowledge.  This knowledge would be better 
protected by the United Nations and ourselves, therefore we urge that the 
U.N.’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues hold a technical meeting to 
look for the way in which the U.N. can manage the theme of protecting 
indigenous knowledge.

3.      Guarantee the basic right to health of Indigenous Peoples.  The 
right of countries to take measures to protect public health and to promote 
access to medicines should have priority over obligations to protect the 
intellectual property rights of companies.  The protection of patents 
demanded by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies should be restricted 
with the end being to protect public health and security and to assure the 
production of and easy access to inexpensive, essential medicines.  Health 
is a basic right and Indigenous Peoples should enjoy this right. 
Governments should be allowed to use the flexibilities allowed in the TRIPS 
Agreement which are reflected in the Doha TRIPS and Public Health 
Declaration. An amendment to TRIPS should be done to simplify and clarify 
the procedures for compulsory licensing and parallel importation and to 
remove the unnecessary obstacles to the import and export of medicines 
needed to provide affordable medicines to the poor.

4.      No new topics/issues should be included at this Fifth Ministerial 
Conference.  We support the position of some countries on the road to 
development, which have the goal of impeding a new round of the WTO and the 
inclusion of new topics such as investment, competition, transparency in 
public purchases and trade facilitation.  The WTO should not carry out 
negotiations about investment and it should change its existing standards 
which grant excessive rights to companies allowing them to act without 
restriction.  All standards which impede the ability of governments to 
pursue development based on human rights and environmental sustainability 
should be eliminated.

5.      Expansion of the GATS accord should be stopped and an amendment 
should be introduced to the existing accord to impede the privatization and 
liberalization of health, education, water, energy and environmental 
services.  The liberalization and privatization of environmental services 
(parks for example), the commercialization of indigenous cultures and the 
growing industrial monopoly on tourism by national and international 
agencies must be stopped.  We should be permitted to manage our own 
protected zones, parks, jungles and water found in national 
territories.  We should have the possibility of following our own practices 
and management of jungles, water, biodiversity and ecosystems.

6.      Cease negotiations about agriculture which encourage the free 
importation of agricultural products.  Internal and export subsidies to 
agri-business and to wealthy producers in the U.S. and the E.U. alike, must 
cease.  States should take decisive measures to promote and protect food 
sovereignty and security, to terminate the practice of dumping and to stop 
contraband agricultural products that have been strongly subsidized coming 
from the U.S., the E.U., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  The rights of 
indigenous producers should be assured allowing them to sustain indigenous 
agriculture systems of cultivation and of traditional seeds 
reproduction.  States should not include indigenous agriculture systems in 
their international trade agreements.  Indigenous peoples have the right to 
their way of life and to traditional food systems and these should be 
recognized and protected, which is to say that trade and investment 
standards that violate these rights should be annulled or adequately modified.

7.      Stop the militarization of Indiengous Peoples’ communities and the 
criminalization of protest and acts of resistance by Indigenous Peoples 
against destructive industries, projects and programs.  In-depth and 
effective investigations should be done into the numerous cases of murder, 
arrests, arbitrary detentions and other violations committed against 
Indigenous Peoples and those who support them.  Justice should be given to 
the victims and their families and the authors of the crimes must be punished.

8.      Support and strengthen the sustainable trade systems which have 
been in effect for centuries among the Indigenous Peoples of America.  Some 
of the trade routes among the Indigenous Peoples of North America (the 
U.S., Canada and Mexico) have existed for centuries and continue 
today.  The militarization of borders and other destructive practices have 
limited the scale and the use of these routes for Indigenous 
Peoples.  Trade among Indigenous Peoples should be sustained and promoted.

The ministers of this Fifth Ministerial Conference have a responsibility to 
represent not only commercial interests but all of the people in their 
respective states including Indigenous Peoples.  Human rights pacts and 
conventions, environmental, social and culture development accords within 
the body of the U.N. continue to be not just a legal but also a moral 
obligation for governments.  Governments are bound to international laws 
and human rights.

Indigenous Peoples are the subject of many of these accords and deals and 
of their legislation.  Our rights cannot be ignored nor can their breadth 
be restricted nor compromised by trade agreements and their 
regulations.  We, as Indigenous Peoples, have the right to act as people 
and as actors in our own development, in accord with our own vision and 
tradition.  Our free and informed consent, free of fraud or manipulation 
and coherent with our own traditional form of making decisions should be 
secured.  The development model promoted by the state cannot simply be 
imposed on us.  Our rights as people over our lands and territories and 
over natural resources should be recognized, fulfilled and respected.  Our 
survival as a people depends on it.

(Note:  For more information, contact the Indigenous Environmental Network, 
P.O. Box 485, Bemidji, MN 56619, U.S.A., E-mail: ien-AT-igc.org or the 
International Indian Treaty Council, 2390 Mission St., Suite 301, San 
Francisco, CA, 94110, U.S.A., E-mail: alberto-AT-treatycouncil.org.  You can 
support this declaration by emailing Tebtebba, tebtebba-AT-skyinet.net)


PUBLIC DECLARATION FROM THE BINATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TRADE AGREEMENTS AND 
THE IXCAN JUNGLE

Before the imminent signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the 
government of Guatemala, other Central American nations and the U.S., and 
before the menacing shadow of powerful governments and global transnational 
companies, a binational conference regarding these agreements and their 
repercussions was held in the municipality of Ixcan.  During June 27-28th, 
at the initiative of the municipality of Ixcan and under the coordination 
of local organizations, 552 delegates from the municipality and other parts 
of the nation including community and organizational representatives from 
Chiapas, Mexico, gathered.

After analysing the content and the impact of the FTA at political, 
economic, socio-cultural and environmental levels, we have drawn the 
following conclusions:

1.      We are not in agreement with the negotiation and signing of the FTA 
and the PPP as they are planned.

2.      The FTA operate against Food Sovereignty and Security.

3.      The FTA encourage the disappearance of cultural diversity.

4.      The FTA result in the youth losing their cultural identity and 
their involvement in prostitution, drugs, organized crime, etc..

5.      We reject markets and monoculture growing methods, such as 
transgenetic seeds, which generate dependency.

6.      We do not agree with the construction of hydro-electric dams that 
work against the natural environment and against life.

7.      We are opposed to petroleum and mining activities that work against 
health and that poison water sources.

8.      We reject MOSCAMED’s fumigations because they impede the window of 
local production and damage crops.

Given all this, WE FAVOUR THE FOLLOWING ACTION:

A.      The creation of organizational and communication networks to 
exchange information at local, municipal, departmental, national and 
international levels.

B.      The diffusion of awareness regarding the impacts of FTA and 
PPP:  radio programs in various languages, press conferences, awareness 
workshops and information sessions in communities.

C.      The creation of alliances to unite forces and struggles throughout 
Mexico, including women’s organizations.

D.      The development of a commission or delegation to give continuity to 
the conference and to the struggle against the FTA.  This commission would 
be launched by the municipality and work in coordination with other local 
organizations (especially a binational commission): in this way, and 
through the UTPM and the forestry’s technical office, information would be 
given to community representatives.

E.      The defense of the municipality’s natural resource wealth.

F.      The valuing and consumption of locally produced products (native 
seeds) and the boycott of foreign products made in the area.

G.      The guarantee of food and health by recovering traditional 
agricultural practices and natural medicines, such as eco-agriculture and 
organic growing.

H.      The promotion of greater participation by women and youth.

I.      The promoting of awareness to youth about the repercussions of the FTA.

J.      The solicitation of presidential candidates’ positions regarding 
the FTA.

K.      The carrying out of protests against the FTA in coordination with 
communities in Chiapas.

L.      The reclaiming of the Peace Accords as a basic instrument for 
demilitarization, human rights and food sovereignty guarantee policies.

M.      The demand that the government respect human rights (political, 
civil, economic, cultural and environmental), above all those of indigenous 
peoples and that it inform the public of the repercussions of the FTA.

N.      The demand that the government promote clean energy projects that 
do not include hydro-electric dams.

O.      The demand that the government construct means of access or 
communication to move local production into the national market.

P.      The demand that the government not allow the INAB to grant licenses 
for cutting trees.

Q.      The following-up of the document presented by ASIPOI regarding the 
fumigations of MOSCAMED in the municipality of Ixcan.

Finally we call for on ourselves to unify for a globalization of solidarity 
among communities, organizations and the peoples of Mesoamerical.

Playa Grande, Ixcann, June 28, 2003

In attendence were members, militants, participants and/or 
representatives:  Marcos Ramirez, Municipal mayor of Ixcan; community 
mayors and delegates from 153 communities in the municipality of Ixcan; 
representatives from 33 communities in Chiapas; Pastoral Social of Ixcan; 
the Guillermo Toriello Foundation; the Asociación de Desarrollo Comunitario 
Siembra; Alianza para el Desarrollo Juvenil; the Asociación de Productores 
Orgánicos del Ixcán; Paz y Tercer Mundo; Colectivo Madreselva; Coordinadora 
Municipal de Mujeres de Ixcán; Ceiba; Cideca; Red de Derechos Humanos del 
Ixcán; Asociación de Educadores Noroccidentales; Asociación de Mujeres Mamá 
Maquín; Frente Petenero contra Represas; Mesa Global; Asociación de 
Comunidades 13 de marzo Río Negro; Asociación de amigos del Lago de Izabal; 
Cooperativa la Esperanza (San Antonio Suchitepéquez); Diaconía (Programa 
Presbiterinano, sede en Quetzaltenango); Cooperativa Agrícola Santa Fe 
(Parcelamiento Santa Fé, Retalhuleu); Comité de Desarrollo Integral 
(Chisec); Aguasach (Chisec); Organización Agroper; Adipsem; Consejo 
Regional Pueblo Q’eqchí Chabil Be; Sector Campesino de Chisec; Hermanas de 
la Caridad México; Hermanas del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús; Hermanas 
Franciscanas; Parroquia Cristo Redentor; Comunidades de Población en 
Resistencia de la Sierra; Asociación de Derechos Humanos de Cuarto Pueblo; 
Educación para la Paz (Edupaz); Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada; Enlace 
Comunicación y Capacitación; COMPITCH; Parroquia Candelaria de los 
Mártires; Parroquia San José Ixcán; Cordisa; Asociación Mujeres del 
Progreso del Ixcán; Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura; Sociedad Civil 
Organizada Río Hondo; PAEBI; Asociación de Promotores Pecuarios del Ixcán; 
Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional; Coordinadora Regional 
de Derechos Humanos del Ixcán; Asamblea Consultiva de Población; 
Desarraigada Ixcán; CEDAP; Defensoría Maya; Asociación Asodikowa (Zona 
Reyna); Mesa Nacional de Migraciones de Guatemala; Cáritas Sololá; 
Asociación Coordinadora Comunitaria de Servicios de Salud; OMR; ASODIM.


(Translated by Sherry Telford, for CIEPAC, A.C)

Gustavo Castro Soto
  The Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community 
Action,  A.C. CIEPAC,
CIEPAC is a member of the Movement for Democracy and Life (MDV) of Chiapas, 
the Mexican Network of Action Against Free Trade (RMALC) www.rmalc.org.mx, 
Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas (COMPA ) 
www.sitiocompa.org, Network for Peace in Chiapas, Week for Biological and 
Cultural Diversity www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad, the International 
Forum "The People Before Globalization", Alternatives to the PPP 
http://usuarios.tripod.es/xelaju/xela.htm, and of the Mexican Alliance for 
Self-Determination (AMAP) that is the Mexican network against the Puebla 
Panama Plan.  CIEPAC is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center 
for Economic Justice http://www.econjustice.net and the Ecumenical Program 
on Central America and the Caribbean (EPICA) http://www.epica.org.

Note: If you use this information, cite the source and our email address. 
We are grateful to the persons and institutions who have given us their 
comments on these Bulletins. CIEPAC, A.C. is a non-government and 
non-profit organization, and your support is necessary for us to be able to 
continue offering you this news and analysis service. If you would like to 
contribute, in any amount, we would infinitely appreciate your remittance 
to the bank account in the name of:

CIEPAC, A.C
Bank: Banamex
Account number: 7049672
Sucursal 386
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México.
You will also need to use an ABA number:  BNMXMXMM

Thank you! CIEPAC
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situation in Chiapas, and a chapter with more information on the PPP)
__________________________________________________________________________________________

CIEPAC, A.C.
Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria
Calle de La Primavera # 6
Barrio de la Merced
29240 San Cristóbal, Chiapas, MEXICO
Tel/Fax: en México 01967 674-5168
Fuera de México    +52 967 674-5168

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