Argentina

Indigenous Peoples in Argentina

Argentina is a federal country with 23 provinces and with a national population of approximately 40 million. The most recent national census (2010) gave a total of 955,032 people who self-identify as descended from or belonging to an Indigenous People. There are 35 different officially recognised Indigenous Peoples in the country. They legally hold specific constitutional rights at the federal level and in various provincial states.

Argentina has voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ratified ILO Convention 169. The country has also ratified other universal human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Main challenges for Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples

The tensions and conflicts over Indigenous Peoples’ land claims worsened in 2017. The State of Argentina failed to guarantee and enforce Indigenous rights over land, and moreover, criminalised the members of Indigenous communities who called out for this failure. In the context of this scenario and the confrontation between the two parts, there have been numerous acts of violence, and even deaths of indigenous activists, as it is the case of Santiago Maldonado.

The tension over land sees one of its roots in the economic interest in extractive activities on the territories claimed by Indigenous Peoples, as guaranteed rights of Indigenous Peoples, is incompatible with the neo-developmentalist economic model that is based precisely on these extractive activities.

Potential progress for Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples

With the aim of reducing levels of violenece, spaces for intercultural dialogue were created during 2017. The peace and intercultural dialogue committee that was created nationally brought together representatives of different political spaces, civil society organisations, intellectuals, with the aim of finding a political response to the tensions that would enable Argentina to set aside the use of force when resolving territorial conflicts, and instead find peaceful and agreed solutions.

Some of the documents that have emerged from this space reflect on the portrayal of indigenous Mapuche as violent terrorists.

Racist and Patriarchal Justice in Argentina: the Reina Maraz case

Written on 14 April 2021. Posted in News

The criminal procedure confronted by Reina Meraz, a Bolivian immigrant woman, exposes a double issue of the Argentinian judicial system: the need to train judicial officers in both gender perspective and interculturalism. Reina was subjected to a procedure that neglected her native tongue, Quechua, and was condemned to a life sentence on the back of a defective argumentation that disregarded the dynamics of gender violence. Ultimately, Reina was absolved amid a context of popular and feminist mobilizations, and concerted efforts between State agencies, non-governmental organizations and social movements.*

Indigenous World 2020: Argentina

Written on 11 May 2020. Posted in Argentina

Argentina comprises 23 provinces with a total population of approximately 40 million. The most recent national census (2010) gave a total of 955,032 people who self-identify as descended from or belonging to an Indigenous people. There are 35 different officially recognised Indigenous Peoples in the country. They legally hold specific constitutional rights at the federal level and in various provincial states.

The Indigenous World 2021: Argentina

Written on 18 March 2021. Posted in Argentina

In addition, ILO Convention 169 and other universal human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) are of constitutional force in the country. Argentina voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous World 2019: Argentina

Written on 24 April 2019. Posted in Argentina

Argentina is a country made up of 23 provinces, with a total population of approximately 40 million people. The most recent national census in 2010 gave a total of 955,032 people self-identifying as descended from or belonging to an indigenous people.1 There are 35 different officially-recognised indigenous peoples in the country. They legally hold specific constitutional rights at the federal level and in various provincial states.

Indigenous peoples in Argentina

Argentina

Indigenous Peoples in Argentina

Main challenges for Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples

Potential progress for Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples

Racist and Patriarchal Justice in Argentina: the Reina Maraz case

Indigenous World 2020: Argentina

The Indigenous World 2021: Argentina

Indigenous World 2019: Argentina

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