wfn.org | ARGENTINA: LAND RIGHTS

[Audrey Whitefield <a.whitefield@quest.org.uk>]

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Jan. 27, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal,Director of Communications 
Anglican Communion Office
London, England

[97.1.4.1]

ARGENTINA: LAND RIGHTS OF INDIANS STILL NOT RESOLVED

(ACNS)  Further to the ACNS report in the mailing of November 1996 about
the land rights campaign by the Wichi and Chorote Indians of the
Northern
Argentine Chaco, Bishop Patrick Harris, Bishop of Southwell and a former
Bishop of Northern Argentina, sent this report update to ACNS.

"In October 1996, I was part of the British Delegation to the Argentine
British Conference.  These conferences have been held each year since
1990
and are made up of Parliamentarians, business people, representatives of
the Arts and of academic institutions and the Church.  These
non-Governmental Conferences have the objective of building up
relationships between the two countries in the aftermath of the
Falklands
War.

"This particular Conference was held in Salta, which is the centre for
the
Diocese of Northern Argentina, which has been at the forefront of the
encouragement of the Indian Tribal Peoples in their search for rights
over
the land they have inhabited since time immemorial.

"It was in August and September of last year that the Indian Tribal
Peoples
of the area occupied an International Bridge over the River Pilcomayo
with
the objective of forcing the Government to cede Land Rights.  An
Undertaking was given in September by the Minister of the Government of
Salta to bring forward the necessary documentation within 30 days. Those
30
days expired during the time of the Argentine British Conference in
Salta.

"As a former Bishop of Northern Argentina and with intimate knowledge of
this long standing request for Land Rights, I was able to raise the
issue
personally with the Governor of Salta and also to visit the Roman
Catholic
Archbishop of Salta who is equally committed to the cause of the Indian
Tribal Peoples. Furthermore, I was able to raise the matter at the
Conference and ensure that in the final communiqu, reference was made
to
the subject.

"In spite of this international pressure, still the Land Rights have not
been granted to the Indian Tribal People.  Apart from my own
correspondence
with the Argentine Ambassador in London on the subject, the Anglican
Communion Representative at the United Nations, Bishop James Ottley, has
also made representation.

"The resistance of the Salta Provincial Government to act is difficult
to
understand, especially in the light of the fact that the President of
the
Republic, Carlos Menem, was personally involved in the handing over of
Land
Rights to another Indian Group, the Mapuches of Chubut on  25 October.

"It is urgent that continued pressure be brought upon the Salta
Provincial
Government to act according to the Argentine Constitution, the declared
position of the President and in response to their own commitment
through
the Minister of the Government of Salta, apart from on the basis of
basic
human rights."