Indigenous Groups Push for Participation in Gov't Development Plans Rosa Rojas - La Jornada
go to original March 14, 2013

Commitments were signed yesterday by a dozen leaders of indigenous organizations and the Commissioner for Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples, Jaime Martinez Veloz, that national indigenous movement organizations will participate in several government planning processes. These include the coordination and development of consultative forums for drafting the National Development Plan, as well as its implementation and monitoring, and incorporation within the Governing Council of the Pact for Mexico and in the implementation of the National Crusade Against Hunger.

The agreement containing these commitments was signed in the office of the commissioner, as a result of a previous meeting held on March 6 in the Chamber of Deputies, with indigenous delegates from 14 states.

In the document, it was also agreed to work on the constitutional recognition of the fundamental rights of the original peoples, engaging the Indigenous Affairs committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the Peace and Reconciliation Commission and the Executive branch.

In addition, it proposes a reform of the public agencies that attend to indigenous peoples, their accountability, and the oversight of public resources for original peoples, and proposes adapting the operating rules of programs attending to them.

Another commitment is to contribute to and participate in the resolution of conflicts through interagency roundtables to resolve the social, agricultural, religious and natural resource usage - such as mines or installing wind farms in their territories - among other issues which are present in indigenous communties.

Among the signatories are Franco Gabriel of the National Alliance of Indigenous Bilingual Professionals; former deputies Margarito Ruiz and Marcos Matias; Jenaro Domínguez of the National Coordinating Committee of Indigenous Peoples; Bruno Plácido and Gaudencio Mejía of the Union of People and Organizations of Guerrero; Abundio Marcos and Marie Antoinette Hernandez of the National Indigenous Movement, and Jose Luis Castro, of Aztlan.

See Spanish original

Posted by Reed Brundage at Mexico Voices

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