President Bachelet: “Today, we are starting to repay our debts to our native peoples, a process that we have delayed for far too long.”
President of Chile Michelle Bachelet signed the laws that create the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the National Council and individual Councils of Indigenous Peoples earlier today in the Patio Las Camelias at La Moneda Palace. In order to create these entities, consultations were held with representatives of the nine ethnic groups recognized by the Chilean government -the Aymara, Quechua, Atacameño, Diaguita, Kolla, Rapa Nui, Kawésqar, Yagán, and Mapuche- as required by international standards.
“It is our duty to make our country a nation in which multiculturalism and plurality are better recognized,” said the President. She added that the idea is to generate “more spaces in which the cultural richness of our identities can be expressed and respect and equal treatment of every man and woman is guaranteed, which is what every people and every faith deserves.”
She added, “Both initiatives are the realization of a long-awaited and renewed dream: to elevate indigenous politics to the highest institutional rank through the ministry, improving the coordination necessary to do things correctly and to ensure the crosscutting presence of the indigenous approach in government.”
Along this same line, President Bachelet said, “This new way of working is now state policy, and it is based on honest and respectful dialogue. The goal is to address the aspirations and interests of Chile’s native peoples and to process differences.”
She added that the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples will work with the President on the design, coordination and evaluation of policies and programs that seek to implement and strengthen the rights of indigenous peoples and their socioeconomic, political and cultural development and to eliminate all forms of arbitrary discrimination.
Furthermore, the Inter-ministerial Committee on Indigenous Peoples will support the development and execution of these functions and collaborate with the Minister to draft, follow up on and evaluate the implementation of the policies, plans and programs that aim to advance indigenous peoples and their members. The Ministry will ensure that members of indigenous communities have proper access to natural resources and their land; guarantee protection of, access to and sustainable exploitation of indigenous land and water rights; and foster the social and economic development of members of indigenous communities in accordance with the mechanisms and procedures established by law.
Delving into this new initiative, President Bachelet emphasized that, “This is the beginning of the end of silencing the voices that define us as a nation and without which we cannot build our future. We are writing a new page in our shared history, renewing foundations so that we can build together, and establishing a common way forward without exclusion.”
In conclusion, the President said, “The voices of native peoples will be legitimized through other entities, and we will make this possible through the National Council and the nine Councils of Indigenous Peoples. These representative institutions will have decision-making powers, both optional and binding, over their own statutory laws, to represent the general interests, needs and collective rights of the indigenous peoples before State agencies.”